This document provides the minimum IT specifications that are required to host and run Mitrefinch applications. This document is intended to cover the high-level requirements for the main Mitrefinch applications, e.g. TMS8, Flexipay etc.
This document was last reviewed in March 2019.
Below, the specifications for the minimum levels of software and hardware for servers and databases to be used with Mitrefinch applications are detailed.
At a minimum, Microsoft Server 2012 R2 or higher is required to host Mitrefinch applications.
Note: Microsoft Server 2012 Essentials is also supported, however you must inform your Project Manager prior to software installation if you choose to use it.
Currently, Mitrefinch do not support the following server operating systems:
All server operating systems should be fully service packed and hot-fixed to the latest release.
Mitrefinch software is fully compatible with Microsoft HyperV, VMware, CITRIX, and other leading virtualization technologies.
The server name must only contain characters ‘a’ through ‘z’, the digits ‘0’ through ‘9’ and a hyphen (‘-‘). All other characters are invalid.
At a minimum, Microsoft SQL 2012 is required for Mitrefinch’s applications’ databases. Microsoft SQL 2012 Express Edition is also supported.
Note: Database names can be a maximum of 60 characters long.
Mitrefinch requires that the hardware for any servers hosting Mitrefinch applications meet the minimum requirements for your chosen server operating system and database server platform. For Microsoft Server 2012 R2, they are as follows:
Additional Disk Space requirements
Application | Minimum Disk space |
Time & Attendance and Access Control | 60GB |
HR Manager | 60GB |
Flexipay | 10GB |
It is of great importance that Mitrefinch software and data is backed up at regular intervals. It is entirely the customer’s responsibility to ensure this is carried out. Mitrefinch recommend that test restorations occur regularly to ensure backups are accurate.
In order to access TMS8 across the internet, or use a mobile device to access it, an external IP address will be required for the server.
Mitrefinch will only install the applications for Local Area Network (LAN) access.
For external internet access or mobile clocking, Mitrefinch strongly recommends that you investigate and implement a higher level of security for the TMS8 server than the standard security provided.
The minimum security that the Mitrefinch application requires is TSL (Transport Layer Security) or SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).
Decisions made regarding a security policy for the TMS8 application are important, and should be made as part of a more general security audit.
Mitrefinch do not recommend the use of the TMS/HR Manager application over a WAN without implementing either a thin-client solution (for example, Citrix or Terminal Server), or the use of TMS8.
Depending upon the size of the organisation, TMS8 can produce complex and large web pages that need to be transmitted across the
WAN/Internet. Mitrefinch recommends a bandwidth of 2Mb/s when this type of operation is being considered.
A client PC is defined as one which will be used to access any of the Mitrefinch applications.
At a minimum, Mitrefinch applications require Microsoft Windows 7 or later.
Mitrefinch applications can run on PCs with a lower specification than the recommended levels detailed below, but performance cannot be guaranteed. Mitrefinch cannot guarantee that PCs which do not meet the minimum specification are future-proofed, and clients may find that further applications and expansion of existing applications may render the PC unsuitable.
Minimum specification:
Although the disk space requirements for Mitrefinch applications are negligible, the minimum free hard disk space is to enable the PC to function correctly (i.e. sufficient swap space available).
By design, a thin client is a network computer without a hard disk drive, which is designed to be especially small so the bulk of the data processing occurs on the server.
As this processing occurs elsewhere, the demands on the PC are significantly less than a Fat client. Please refer to the supplier of your Thin client software for their recommended specifications.
All modern browsers that support HTML5 are able to access the TMS8 Web Module, including desktop PCs, tablets and smartphones. TMS8 is able to adapt the application layout to cater to the device.
If Lumidigm Biometric registration is being undertaken at a PC, then the PC will require a free USB port to enable connection to the enrolment device.
PC Specification:
Compatible readers:
Supported Platforms:
Supported platforms:
A “Polling” PC is the machine on which the Mitrefinch Polling application will be run. This application is an interface by which the clocking terminals and / or access units communicate with the main TMS / Access Control database. This is a two-way interface, which involves employee clocking and access transactions being recovered from the terminals and written to the database, and employee details and access rights downloaded from the database to the terminals and units. It also performs other ancillary tasks such as synchronising the terminals with the correct time etc. More than one Polling PC may be required, the number being determined by the number, type and location of the clocking terminals and / or access units, the type of network and the size of the site.
To enable communication, the Polling PC must either have a LAN/WAN connection or, in the case of serial terminals (MF/AC 2/4/600), a serial port.
Where serial terminals are used, Mitrefinch recommend that native serial ports are installed as USB->Serial converters have been known to cause problems. In addition, Mitrefinch recommend a maximum of 25 terminals per serial port. The serial ports must also be enabled within the PC. It is essential that all power saving options be disabled with the exception of graphics / monitors.
In addition to the above, a second application, the Processor, is usually run on the same PC. The purpose of this application is to convert the time & attendance transactions that the Poller has recovered from the terminals into processed hours within the database. Only one such Processor is required for each site.
The recommended specification for a Polling PC is:
It is possible to run multiple copies of the Poller program on a single PC, however, this will require more resources (both CPU and Memory) in order to function satisfactorily.
These can be run as services either on a dedicated machine or an existing machine. If running on an existing machine, it is advised that this is used for as little other work as possible.
In order to setup Poller and Processor as services, an account will need to be available which has the following user assignment rights with Local Policy:
And will also require full read/write access to the TMS applications and data directory/database.
For testing connections initially, it is often useful to the relevant account to be provided with Allow login locally privileges.
It is often required to use the poller as a service to print onsite reports in the case of an emergency. Therefore, the relevant printers need to be defined on the machine that is running the services.
If the poller and processor are running as services and wish to be controlled from a separate machine, then a full local administrator account will need to be available on the polling/processing machine.
These can be run as applications on a machine, if required, it is advised that this machine is not utilised for any other purpose.
Note: As of December 2018, FES has been discontinued.
The optional Mitrefinch Fire Evacuation System (FES) application is designed to be run on a dedicated DOS-based box supplied by Mitrefinch.
The FES PC is connected via an RS232 serial link to another PC on, from which the Windows Polling program will be run. Due to the limitations of RS232 (50 feet), this polling machine should be seated close to the FES PC. The recommended specifications for this PC are outlined in here. In order to produce fire roll-calls directly, a dedicated parallel printer is also required:
Minimum specification:
Mitrefinch supplies software that runs as a service to produce fire rollcalls on network printers. As this is running on a separate machine, Mitrefinch cannot guarantee the production of these roll-calls. It is advised that this software is run on the Polling PC physically connected to the FES PC.
With TMS v5.04L and above, FES supports a maximum of 60 Mitrefinch terminals.
For TMS version earlier than this, FES will only support a maximum of 30 Mitrefinch terminals.
Cards and Card Printers – Minimum requirements
The Mitrefinch Auto-ID package is designed to produce employee swipe/identity cards. To achieve compatibility with Mitrefinch swipe readers the following guides must be followed:
Laminated card production
Where the customer is printing barcode badges on paper, to then be laminated, these should be produced on a HP LaserJet-compatible printer. The printer MUST be capable of producing “Carbon Black” output.
Although, carbon impact printers (i.e. Dot Matrix) are compatible with Auto-ID, their practical use should be limited to basic swipe-card production due to the reduced quality of their output.
Mitrefinch advise that DeskJet/Inkjet printers should NOT be used due to the inconsistent nature of being able to produce “Carbon Black” ensuring a valid readable card.
Due to the heating of the card during the lamination process, it is not possible to use wax dye sublimation printers.
Generally, Mitrefinch will recommend a card printer during the pre-sales discussions. Due to the vast array of card printers in existence, it would be impossible to list all compatible printers. Please contact a member of the Mitrefinch Implementation team to discuss suitability or for further advice.
Capturing images – guidance
Mitrefinch recommends the use of a separate digital camera for capturing images for use with Auto-ID.
These images should be captured in .JPG at a maximum resolution of 1024x768.
TMS, HR Manager & Flexipay support the use of SMTP email.
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is the standard method of sending email across the Internet. It is supported by Outlook, Exchange, Lotus and all other email-compatible systems. It works equally well in both an interactive environment (TMS) and a non-interactive environment (T&A.Net).
We recommend reviewing the security of your email system before using it with Mitrefinch applications.