Operating system: Informatica PowerCenter can be installed on Windows-based operating systems or UNIX-based operating systems. Informatica releases different versions of software for different UNIX-based operating systems. For all Windows operating systems, we have a common installable. In this book, we will refer to the Windows operating system.

Database: Informatica PowerCenter requires a database for configuration. Make sure you have installed a database (Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, or DB2). In this book, we will refer to Oracle as a database.

The installation process requires two different database users. Please make sure you create two database users with all the admin privileges. In this book, we are using SYSTEM as one user and HR as the other user.

System requirements: We need to check the system capabilities before we proceed with the installation. Informatica recommends 4 GB of RAM for the installation, but practically even 1 GB of RAM works well. The difference shows up in the processing, but it won't hamper the installation process.

Also, hard disk space of approximately 25 GB will be required.

Before downloading the Informatica software, please check whether your machine is 32-bit or 64-bit. Also, make sure you install the correct database with 32-bit or 64-bit configuration to avoid any installation failure later.