Why can't I run PlayoutONE on out-of-spec hardware?

A radio automation system is the beating heart of your radio station. When it runs well, it keeps your business operating smoothly. However, when playout systems are installed on under-performing hardware, it's impossible to guarantee how reliably they will work.

For PlayoutONE, we have published minimum hardware requirements for both the Standard and Pro editions. These have been tested and are known to perform without issue when running PlayoutONE.

We occasionally update our minimum hardware specification as operating systems and other third-party dependencies change, to ensure PlayoutONE users have the best possible experience.

The requirements change depending on the number of stations I have. Why's it so complicated?

We want to be transparent and allow stations to purchase hardware that meets their needs. Aiir doesn't have a preferred hardware supplier, so if you have an existing relationship with an IT supplier who can offer you a good deal, that's great.

By being clear about the requirements for a set number of stations, we hope that you can find suitable equipment that aligns with your station's goals. If you want to set up additional spin-off stations using the same server, even if you currently only have one station, you can determine the resources needed to power a multi-station setup.

Why don't you allow virtual machines?

While some virtual machines can be configured to meet PlayoutONE's hardware specifications, there is no guarantee that other VMs running on the same server aren't carrying out intensive tasks that may consume the resources required to run PlayoutONE.

Dedicated cloud hosting servers, such as those used by Aiir's cloud automation customers, are supported as we can configure the machines to reserve the system resources PlayoutONE requires.

Can't you just tell me what to buy?

Some broadcast software providers recommend or provide certain hardware brands. At Aiir, as long as the PCs meet PlayoutONE's minimum system requirements, we leave the choice of where to purchase hardware from entirely up to you.

If you already have suitable machines that you're happy to start fresh with PlayoutONE on, great - we can use those without you needing to purchase any new equipment. If you've got a computer store that's a loyal advertiser on your station, we're happy for you to support them.

I can get a great deal on a refurbished machine.

We appreciate that commercial radio stations need to save costs wherever possible, but please, for your own benefit, don't scrimp on the equipment that will keep your radio station on the air.

We specify that processors must be released by their manufacturers (Intel, AMD etc.) within the last three years. Many refurbished machines will not be able to meet that criteria, and PlayoutONE will likely struggle to perform as well as you — or we — would like. That isn't an arbitrary date range. We've seen from experience that performance tends to wane as PCs age and system updates may mean more processes running in the background.

New servers and workstations can typically run PlayoutONE for 10 years or more without issue. However, some refurbished hardware may use components that are nearly as old, meaning your experience can differ significantly depending on the hardware you use.

You can find plenty of refurbished machines that will run PlayoutONE well as production machines. However, if there are any bottlenecking processes affecting audio playback, we recommend purchasing new hardware for the PlayoutONE server, as well as any studio/control room PCs used on air.

How about this laptop/micro PC/all-in-one?

As we mentioned earlier, the minimum requirements haven't been set arbitrarily. We have found through experience that certain machines are not designed in a way that allows PlayoutONE to run satisfactorily.

Laptops and micro/all-in-one PCs have specially designed mobile processors. These tend to be physically smaller and optimised to keep things running at a cool temperature, preventing components from overheating and becoming damaged in a small chassis. They're built that way for a reason, so we don't recommend overclocking hardware to achieve extra performance.

These devices often encounter what is called "thermal throttling", whereby the system eases back on the processing power needed in order to keep things cool. For PlayoutONE, this can mean playing items with latency, calculating airtimes, or making changes to items in your Media Library. It's not the experience we would want you to have from our software.

What if I'm willing to take the risk?

You might be, but we can't. We want everyone who uses PlayoutONE to have the best possible experience, and to achieve that, the station's hardware must meet the minimum requirements.

While in the past, we may have been more lenient with underpowered hardware if the station was willing to compromise on performance, we found that they usually ended up having to buy new hardware that met PlayoutONE's requirements after experiencing performance issues.

Aiir's support team cannot provide further updates to PlayoutONE once the hardware doesn't meet our minimum criteria. You are welcome to continue using your existing version of PlayoutONE. Alternatively, you can update the software yourself at your own risk.