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Multiple standard instances on 32 core AWS machine

  • February 13, 2016 at 10:27 pm

    #324750

    Hi,

    I have four SQL instances (currently Enterprise) which I want to downgrade to Standard edition.

    I can have couple of days downtime for the server, so I will be doing uninstall Enterpise, install Standard approach.

    I want to avoid having to split them into two 16 core machines (due to standard edition only supporting 16 cores).

    I want to maximize the 32 core CPU power, so if any one of the instances spikes, it can use up to 16 cores.

    What would be better: setup CPU affinity for each instance to have 16 cores. They will overlap as there are four instances.

    or, just leave it up to the windows to distribute the CPU power to each instance?

    I have SQL Server 2014 and Windows Server 2012.

    Thanks.

  • February 14, 2016 at 6:27 pm

    #1858705

    Roust_m (2/13/2016)

    Hi,

    I have four SQL instances (currently Enterprise) which I want to downgrade to Standard edition.

    I can have couple of days downtime for the server, so I will be doing uninstall Enterpise, install Standard approach.

    I want to avoid having to split them into two 16 core machines (due to standard edition only supporting 16 cores).

    I want to maximize the 32 core CPU power, so if any one of the instances spikes, it can use up to 16 cores.

    What would be better: setup CPU affinity for each instance to have 16 cores. They will overlap as there are four instances.

    or, just leave it up to the windows to distribute the CPU power to each instance?

    I have SQL Server 2014 and Windows Server 2012.

    Thanks.

    The first question I would have would be (just to be sure)... have you made absolutely sure that you're not using any "Enterprise-Only" features? Don't forget such things as index rebuilds "online". It would be awfully embarrassing if none of these systems came back up 100% because of such a thing.

    --Jeff Moden

    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • February 15, 2016 at 4:34 am

    #1858744

    Jeff Moden (2/14/2016)

    Roust_m (2/13/2016)

    Hi,

    I have four SQL instances (currently Enterprise) which I want to downgrade to Standard edition.

    I can have couple of days downtime for the server, so I will be doing uninstall Enterpise, install Standard approach.

    I want to avoid having to split them into two 16 core machines (due to standard edition only supporting 16 cores).

    I want to maximize the 32 core CPU power, so if any one of the instances spikes, it can use up to 16 cores.

    What would be better: setup CPU affinity for each instance to have 16 cores. They will overlap as there are four instances.

    or, just leave it up to the windows to distribute the CPU power to each instance?

    I have SQL Server 2014 and Windows Server 2012.

    Thanks.

    The first question I would have would be (just to be sure)... have you made absolutely sure that you're not using any "Enterprise-Only" features? Don't forget such things as index rebuilds "online". It would be awfully embarrassing if none of these systems came back up 100% because of such a thing.

    I will be removing all Enterprise feature (we use data compression and partitioning) prior to the downgrade.

  • February 15, 2016 at 8:31 am

    #1858794

    Not the same problem but show a few things you should worry about http://sqlperformance.com/2012/11/system-configuration/2012-cal-problems

    To workout with numa imbalance and spread schedulers evenly you can try set affinity cpuid from 0-7 and 16-23 for 2 instances and 8-15 and 24-31 for another 2 then test and check if this work like should.

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