Novell Documentation: Novell Linux Desktop

1.1 Hardware Requirements

To install Novell Linux Desktop, some minimum system requirements must be met. Make sure your target systems match the following criteria:

Personal computer with a Pentium* II or higher processor, or any other AMD64 for Intel* EM64T processor, and a bootable CD-ROM drive
1 or 2 physical CPUs
4 GB hard disk space when installing the default GNOME or KDE desktop but not more than 8 TB.
8 GB is recommended if installing both GNOME and KDE desktops, or additional software selections.
128 MB RAM (256 MB recommended, but not more than 64 GB)
Super VGA display adapter
Network card (if you are connecting to a network)
BIOS and network hardware supporting network boot (if you plan on doing a remote mass deployment)
USB, PS/2*, or serial mouse
Screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768

NLD can run on a wide range of x86-compatible hardware. As with most desktop operating systems, the requirements vary depending on the anticipated uses of the particular system. However, some general guidelines can be helpful for planning purposes. Seasoned administrators might want to test their own final configurations with particular care to include any third-party applications or network-based services, on a range of available hardware, to ensure that adequate resources are available for each configuration’s expected tasks.

Following are some suggested hardware minimums for various typical workstations and their intended uses under NLD. Note that while the product can be installed on hardware of lower performance, sharply reduced responsiveness might result.

Table 1-1 Suggested Hardware Minimums

Desktop	Hardware Minimum
Minimum Graphic Desktop (basic GUI, OpenOffice.org, Web browsing with minimal Java*/Flash/multimedia)	Pentium 3 500 MHz, 256 MB RAM, 8 GB hard drive
Standard Graphic Desktop (basic GUI, OpenOffice.org, Web browsing with Java/Flash/streaming media, real-time audio in background, shared folders, occasional graphics manipulation, programming, and compilation)	Pentium 3/4 1 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive, 100 MB/sec Ethernet

The original release of NLD was not certified to run on Intel EM64T or AMD64 processors in native 64-bit mode. However, this capability has been implemented for the SP1 release (and later) of NLD. It now runs on these platforms in 32-bit mode as well as in native 64-bit mode.