Software Prerequisites

Before you start looking at system requirements for all Microsoft Project 2003 EPM solution components, make sure that you understand the following:

• The information is based on detailed system requirements listed by Microsoft at the Microsoft Project 2003 system requirements website: http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/prodinfo/sysreq.mspx.

• The requirements listed are the "minimum" requirements and should be taken as such. If you use the minimum requirements for your EPM hardware components, your system will "walk" but definitely will not "run." You need to design significantly more powerful hardware architecture to use the Project Server 2003 EPM solution with any real-life enterprise project and resource data.

NOTE

The workgroup functions of Microsoft Project Standard 2003 will be no longer available in versions subsequent to Project 2003. Therefore, this section focuses on the enterprise configuration only; Microsoft Project Standard 2003 is not discussed.

Microsoft Office Project 2003 Software Product and Version Requirements

To plan the deployment of a Microsoft Project 2003 EPM system, you need to know the details of all associated EPM solution components. The next sections specify these software version requirements for each product required to run the Microsoft Project 2003 EPM solution.

NOTE

The Microsoft Project Professional 2003 client and server components can both be installed on the same computer.

Client-Side Requirements

The following products must be installed on a user's system for the full Microsoft Project 2003 Professional edition capabilities to be available to that user:

• Operating system Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 (SP3), Microsoft Windows XP, or later.

• Browser Internet Explorer 5.01 with SP3 or later, Internet Explorer 5.5 with SP2 or later, or Internet Explorer 6 with SP1 or later (Internet Explorer 6 recommended for best experience).

• Applications Microsoft Project Professional 2003 (for project managers, administrators, and any other users requiring the ability to open, modify, and save project plans).

For more detailed Project Professional 2003 system requirements, review the following website: http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/prodinfo/proreq.mspx.

NOTE

Each Project Professional 2003 client user automatically also has a PWA license to access the Project Server 2003 data repository.

Microsoft Project Web Access client system requirements are as follows:

• Operating system Windows 98 Second Edition or higher; the latest service pack for your operating system is highly recommended.

• Browser Internet Explorer 5.01 with SP3 or later, Internet Explorer 5.5 with SP2 or later, or Internet Explorer 6 with SP1 or later. (For full functionality, Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater is required.)

• Applications For Portfolio Analyzer and Resource Availability views, the following are required:

  • For read-only mode, Microsoft Office Web Components (OWC) 2003 running on Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 or later.

  • In addition, to use OWC in full interactive mode to create Portfolio Analyzer views, a valid end-user license for a Microsoft Office 2003 Edition, Project Professional 2003, or any Microsoft Office System program is needed.

For more detailed PWA client system requirements, review the following website: http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/prodinfo/webreq.mspx.

Server-Side Requirements

Minimum requirements assume one server where all Project Server components and supporting technologies (that is, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services) are installed.

NOTE

Additional system requirement information about advanced Project Server configurations is available in the Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 Installation Guide at the following URL: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/office/proj2003/default.mspx.

The following products must be installed on a system that contains Project Server 2003 for the full Microsoft Project 2003 edition capabilities to be available to that user:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 3 (SP3) or later, Windows 2000 Advanced Server with SP3 or later, or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise Edition

• Microsoft SQL Server 2000, SP3 or later

• Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services, SP3 for OLAP reporting (Portfolio Analyzer functions)

• Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 5.0 or above (IIS 6.0 is recommended for extended functions)

• Microsoft Project Server 2003

NOTE

You must use Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or later if you are using Windows SharePoint Services for document management, issues, or risks features.

For more detailed Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 system requirements, review the following website: http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/prodinfo/serverreq.mspx.