DIRSIG Training Computer Requirements

Computer Requirements

This page outlines the general requirements for a personal/company computer to be used during the lab sessions at a DIRSIG Training course session.

Hardware Requirements

Ideally, a "modern" computer to minimize waiting for simulations to run. This is generally defined as:
  • A recent CPU (e.g. Intel Core 2 family, AMD Athlon family) with clock rates of 2 GHz or higher.
    • Please note that multi-core CPUs provide no advantage for this course.
  • At least 2 GB of available memory (RAM).
  • At least 2 GB of available disk space.
  • There is no minimum requirement for video cards and displays. Any display hardware that would be present in the previously outlined machine tends to be fine.

Software Requirements

  • Supported operating systems (either 32-bit or 64-bit):
    • Windows (XP SP2 and up)
    • Mac OSX (10.4 and up)
    • Linux (kernel 2.6 and up)
  • MODTRAN
    • A copy of MODTRAN4 (at least V3R1 or later) should be installed.
    • A recent version of MODTRAN5 may also work, but please contact us with the specific version because the format of MODTRAN5 outputs have been changing from release to release.
  • Image Exploitation Tools (optional)
    • A copy of an image exploitation tool such as the ENVI or Opticks can aid in data viewing.
  • Spreadsheet Program (optional)
    • A copy of a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice Calc, iWork Numbers, etc.)

Permission Access

  • Users must have privileges to install software on the computer.
  • Assume that the computer will NOT be connected to the internet during the course. Therefore, any software licenses for the tools listed above (for example, ENVI) need to work without access to network license servers if you want to use them.