Choosing a computer for ANY-maze

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Choosing

a computer

for ANY-maze

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Choosing a computer for ANY-maze

1 Introduction ... 3

2 Overview ... 3

3 Recommended and minimum specifications at a glance ... 3

3.1 Recommended specification for a computer to be used for tracking ... 3

3.2 Recommended specification for a computer to be used for tracking with multiple apparatus ... 4

3.3 Minimum recommended specification for a computer to be used for tracking ... 4

3.4 Minimum specification to run ANY-maze ... 4

4 Operating system ... 5

5 Processor ... 5

6 Memory - RAM ... 5

7 Connecting your camera - USB and PCIe... 5

8 Disk drive ... 6

9 Monitor ... 6

10 Network and internet connections ... 7

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1 Introduction

ANY-maze doesn't demand a very high specification computer (unless you plan to track in multiple apparatus at the same time), but nevertheless, you should still check that the computer you plan to use meets the specifications given here.

2 Overview

Choosing the right specification computer for ANY-maze is relatively simple, indeed, almost any new computer will be suitable unless you plan to track in multiple apparatus simultaneously. However, if you're planning to use a computer you already own, you should check it against the specifications given below. As you probably know, you can install ANY-maze (for free) on any number of different computers within your organisation, not just on the one you'll use for tracking. This can be a great benefit, allowing you and your co-workers to use ANY-maze to analyse results or transfer data to other programs without having to use the tracking computer. If you intend to install ANY-maze on computers which you won't be using for tracking (and we actively encourage you to do so) then their requirements are even less exacting than those of the tracking computer. However, there are of few things to be aware of and we've included them in the specifications below.

3 Recommended and minimum specifications at a glance

3.1 Recommended specification for a computer to be used for tracking

Operating system Windows 10

Processor Intel Core i3

RAM 4GB

USB / PCIe 1 available USB port or 1 available PCIe x1 slot depending on camera type

Disk drive 512GB SATA hard drive

Monitor 1600 x 900 20 inch

Network Internet connection

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3.2 Recommended specification for a computer to be used for tracking with multiple apparatus

Processor Intel Core i7 (see processor details below)

RAM 8GB

USB / PCIe 2 or more available USB ports (ideally connected to separate USB controllers),

or 1 or more available PCIe slots

Disk drive 256GB solid state drive & 1TB SATA hard disk drive (see disk drive details

below)

Monitor 1920 x 1080 24 inch (see monitor details below)

Network Internet connection

Peripherals Optical mouse, Keyboard, Colour printer

3.3 Minimum recommended specification for a computer to be used for tracking

Processor Intel Core i3 (5xx series)

RAM 2GB

USB / PCIe 1 available USB port or 1 available PCIe x1 slot depending on camera type

Disk drive 10GB available space

Monitor 1366 x 768

Network Not required

Peripherals Mouse & keyboard

3.4 Minimum specification to run ANY-maze

Operating system Windows XP service pack 3

Processor Intel Pentium Dual-core

RAM 1GB

USB / PCIe Not required unless tracking

Disk drive 1GB available space

Monitor 1024 x 768

Network Not required

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4 Operating system

You can use ANY-maze with any of the following versions of Windows:  Windows XP  Windows 7  Windows 8  Windows 8.1  Windows 10 (recommended)

5 Processor

When tracking in a single piece of apparatus, ANY-maze doesn't demand too much of a modern processor and any Intel processor that dates from 2011 onwards should work fine.

If you plan to track in multiple apparatus, then the processor's specification becomes more important and the simplest rule to apply is to get the most powerful processor you can afford. The most important characteristic is the number of cores: most modern higher-end processors include 4 cores and should work fine for up to 12 apparatus, above that, you should try to use a processor with 6 or 8 cores. The second characteristic to pay attention to is speed, simply put, faster is better and speeds above 3GHz are recommended.

It's worth mentioning that even when tracking in multiple apparatus, any modern processor will work, just that ANY-maze will probably not track the animal in every image it receives from the camera.

6 Memory - RAM

We'd generally recommend 4GB of RAM, although if you plan to track in multiple apparatus then 8GB would be better (note that there is no benefit to increasing the RAM above this). As a general rule the amount of RAM can be less for older versions of Windowsl for example, if you are running ANY-maze on Windows XP then a machine with 1GB of RAM will probably work fine.

7 Connecting your camera - USB and PCIe

Note : The issues described here only apply to computers you'll use for tracking.

Depending what type of camera and/or digitiser you plan to use, you will need to ensure that you have a PCIe slot or a USB port available to connect it.

USB ports If you want to use a USB camera (or a USB digitiser), you will need at least one free

USB port. If you plan to connect up to 3 cameras, then this is as simple as

connecting them to multiple ports or to a single port via a USB hub. As you move beyond 3 cameras, things become a more complicated and you should read the Connecting multiple cameras topic which describes the issues which can arise.

PCIe slots If you plan to use an analogue camera, you will need a digitiser and these usually

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but PCIe digitisers are recommended). Most desktop computers (except very compact models) include PCIe slots which are usually characterised as x1, x4 or x16. Digitisers are generally x1 devices and can be inserted into any slot.

A single digitiser can typically connect to up to 4 cameras, so if you want to connect more cameras than this, you will need another digitiser and therefore another slot. Large desktop computers usually have 4 available slots, allowing you to connect 4 digitisers for a total of 16 cameras.

If you're using an old computer, it may have a PCI slot (not PCIe). ANY-maze works with digitisers which connect to this type of slot and it is still possible (in 2015) to find such devices for sale.

8 Disk drive

ANY-maze experiment and (especially) ANY-maze video files can be quite large and you should ensure you have a large disk drive available - a drive of 512GB or 1TB is recommended.

Nowadays, cheap external USB drives are available and these are ideal for storing ANY-maze video files. They can also be used to store experiment files, although for this a USB 3.0 drive is recommended as they are faster.

If you plan to track animals over long periods (> 24 hours) and/or you expect to have large numbers of trials (> 500) in your experiments, and especially if you also want to track in multiple apparatus

simultaneously, then you would probably benefit from using a solid state drive (SSD). These are very fast and are particularly useful for storing ANY-maze temporary files, where their speed will make a significant difference to the time taken to save data at the end of a test and to the time taken to analyse results. Large SSDs are quite expensive, but you could use something like a 120GB SSD to save temporary and experiment files and a larger (1TB) traditional hard disk drive to save video files (and perhaps to archive old experiments).

9 Monitor

ANY-maze is designed to work on a monitor with a resolution of 1366 x 768 or above. If you plan to work with multiple apparatus, a higher resolution monitor is recommended, with 1600 x 900 being a reasonable base point. If you choose a very high resolution monitor (for example 2560 x 1440 or above) then you should also use a more powerful processor as there is significantly more work involved in displaying video pictures at higher resolutions.

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10 Network and internet connections

Connecting to your network

A great feature of ANY-maze is that you can install it on as many computers as you like - you'll only be able to track on computers for which you've bought a licence, but you'll be able to do everything else - create experiments, analyse results, transfer data to other programs etc. - on any other computer. Of course, for this to be really useful you'll need to be able to access your ANY-maze experiment files from these other computers and for this reason, it's a good idea to connect your tracking computer to your lab's network.

Other advantages of connecting the tracking computer to a network are that you can backup ANY-maze files onto another computer (or store them on a file server rather than on the tracking computer itself) and that you can use a network printer rather than installing a printer in your behavioural lab - see Mouse, keyboard and printer below.

Connecting to the internet

maze takes full advantage of the internet, using it to automatically download updates from the ANY-maze web-site and to send e-mails direct to ANY-ANY-maze technical support. You'll also find links within help topics that go directly to web pages such as those describing recommended equipment.

Overall then, connecting an ANY-maze tracking computer to the internet is a good idea and if the

computer is already connected to your lab's network, you'll almost certainly be able to use this network to connect to the internet as well.

11 Mouse, keyboard and printer

It's perhaps rather obvious to mention that you'll need a mouse and keyboard but we have a few tips. First, use an optical mouse - traditional mice have balls inside them which can get clogged by the sawdust that's so common in behavioural labs. Optical mice have no moving parts and are less affected by dust. For the same reason, it's a good idea to try to get a plastic keyboard cover - it's possible to buy covers which still allow you to type when the cover is in place.