Horizon Software Host Server
Hardware
The Horizon Software suite is relatively light-weight as it operates primarily over the SMB protocol. For the best performance and end-user experience, the server hosting Horizon Software data should be configured with fast storage and low-latency network hardware. Our general hardware recommendations are as follows:
| Component | Recommendation |
| Processor |
Any Intel or AMD x64 processor 4 cores or more 2.0 GHz or faster |
| Memory | At least 16GB |
| Storage |
At least 500GB SSDs are recommended RAID-1, RAID-5, or RAID-10 recommended |
| Network |
1Gbps NIC and infrastructure required 2.5Gbps or 10Gbps NIC and infrastructure recommended |
Operating System
The Horizon Software suite can be hosted on any currently-supported Windows Server operating system. The Horizon Software suite supports any currently-supported version of Microsoft Server as per the Microsoft Fixed Lifecycle Policy. Currently-supported versions of Windows Server are:
- Windows Server 2025
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019
- Windows Server 2016 (Extended Support)
- Windows Server 2012 R2 (Extended Support)
Database Source
The Horizon Software suite can function using the DataFlex embedded database alone, however there are size limitations with this database type as well as some caveats when backing up this type of database. We recommend hosting your data in a Microsoft SQL database; This improves speed, reliability, and eliminates size limitations imposed by the embedded database. Microsoft SQL databases are also able to be backed up and restored far more efficiently.
The Horizon Software suite can be hosted on any currently-supported version of Microsoft SQL Server as per the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy for SQL Server. We recommend deploying the Standard Edition for most customers.
- SQL Server 2022
- SQL Server 2019
- SQL Server 2017 (Extended Support)
- SQL Server 2016 (Extended Support)
Software Considerations
Antivirus/AntimalwareAntimalware/Data Protection Software
AntivirusAny file- or process-scanning security software should be closely monitored for possible issues with Horizon Software programs and/or data. Typically, no special considerations are required for any such software on the host server, however it is recommended to limit any scanning or monitoring of the primary Horizon Software file share to the server on which the share is hosted. Any workstations or Remote Desktop Session Host servers accessing the Horizon Software file share should have the share excluded from any security software scanning to prevent network traffic and disk issues.
File Backup
Hardware
As mentioned above, there are no special considerations required for backing up Horizon Software data when using Microsoft SQL Server. However, if your Horizon data is stored using the DataFlex embedded database, extra consideration is required - These database files utilize locks which are incompatible with most backup software which uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy Service technology. This means Shadow Copies cannot be enabled on the disk which hosts the Horizon Software file share. Third-party file-based or snapshot-based backup software should be configured to back up files outside of normal business hours to prevent data corruption issues.
In either case, we recommend utilizing an independent disk or volume to host Horizon Software files and data.