Using Firely Server with Binaries

Firely Server can be deployed in a non-cloud, locally hosted environment using native binaries. Afterwards it is possible to run Firely Server as described in the Basic installation section. The necessary files can be downloaded as zip files. All versions (incl. historic versions) can be accessed here.

Please consider running a reverse proxy when running Firely Server natively. Firely Server depends on the .NET Core platform and is therefore cross-platform in all supported environments.

For a production usage, Microsoft SQL Server or MongoDB need to be installed in the same environment in addition to Firely Server.

Firely Server should be registered as a startup / system service (Windows Service or systemd on Linux) for operational reliability.

Minimal platform requirements

Firely Server is a high-performance FHIR server designed for scalability and reliability. While it can be deployed in various environments, optimal performance depends on proper provisioning of resources.

Deployment Options & Operating System:

Firely Server is supported on all platforms supported by the .NET framework. In practice, the choice of operating system should align with your team’s operational expertise and familiarity with the platform. There are no limitations regarding any hypervisor being used when using a virtual machine instead of a physical server.

Memory (RAM)

  • Minimum: 2 GB

  • Recommended: 16 GB or more, particularly when working with large datasets. Firely Server caches definitional FHIR artifacts (e.g., StructureDefinitions, ValueSets) in memory to enhance performance.

CPU

  • Minimum: 2-core X86-64 CPU

  • Recommended: at least 4-core X86-64 CPU

  • Note: More cores benefit concurrent request handling

Disk Space

  • Minimum: 1.5 GB of free disk space for the raw installation of Firely Server

  • Recommended: The recommendation depends on the selected production database and expected numbers of resources. MongoDB uses ~4GB for 1 million resources. SQL Server uses ~34GB for 1 million resources.

  • Note: SSD storage is strongly recommended for optimal I/O performance.

See Performance of Firely Server for additional considerations around choosing the right amount of system resources when scaling the server (i.e. available memory, CPUs).