Quick Start Guide: Hardware and Software Requirements

Confirm that your system has the components needed to complete this Quick Start. This guide assumes one Emergent camera connected directly to a supported NIC on the host computer or server.

Who this is for

System integrators and developers who want to complete the shared Quick Start setup steps and then continue with eCapture Pro or eSDK Pro.

What you’ll accomplish

• Confirm that you have the required camera, host, NIC, and cabling for a one-camera, direct-connect setup.
• Confirm that the host uses a supported operating system.
• Confirm that you have the installer and tools needed for this Quick Start.

Camera and accessories

The camera interface and power requirements affect the hardware needed for this Quick Start.

• Emergent camera: Any Emergent camera
• Camera power: Use an Emergent-supplied or approved power supply if the camera requires external power.
• Camera lens: Use a lens compatible with the camera. A lens mount adapter might be required.
• Data interface cables and connectors: Use cables and connectors that match the camera and NIC ports. See Camera Data Interfaces.

Host computer or server

• Supported operating systems:
  
  • Windows 10 or 11 Pro
  • Windows Server 2016 or 2019
  • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS‍
• RAM: 64 GB is recommended for high-speed capture. Lower amounts can work for basic testing or single-camera setups.‍
• PCIe slot for NIC: Use a slot that provides at least x8 electrical lanes. An x16 slot wired for x8 or higher is acceptable.‍
• Network interface card (NIC): Use a supported NIC from Emergent, NVIDIA, Broadcom, AMD, Intel (RDMA/RoCEv2), or AMD/Xilinx (RDMA/RoCEv2).

Emergent software

• eCapture Pro installer: Use the eCapture Pro installer to install eCapture Pro, eSDK Pro, and classic eSDK.
• eSDK Pro development tools: If you plan to use eSDK Pro, confirm the required compiler and build tools in eSDK Pro System Requirements.

Additional requirements for typical systems

Beyond the requirements for this Quick Start, other system designs can require additional hardware or host capacity.

• Multiple cameras: More total network bandwidth, PCIe capacity, and host resources
• RDMA: For high-throughput or multi-camera systems; reduces CPU overhead by allowing the NIC to transfer image data directly into system memory. For setup instructions, see Configure RDMA on Windows.
• Switched networks: A compatible switch and cabling for your network speed and port types
• Multicast: A multicast-enabled switch, both servers connected to that switch, and the same supported eCapture Pro version on both servers. Additional hardware or drivers might be required depending on the system.
• Synchronization and external I/O: Trigger and strobe wiring, plus any required external I/O hardware
• Processing and recording: CPU or GPU resources and storage throughput and capacity for your workload
• PCIe topology and lane sharing: Verify how the NIC slot maps to CPU or chipset lanes and whether it shares upstream bandwidth, for example through PCIe switches, bridges, or lane bifurcation

Next step

Go to Hardware Installation.