config tips for sql server

  • we are in the process of setting up a new environment for our ERP. it runs sql 2008 as the backend with a fat client that hits the sql server directly. we've had some performance problems with our current server that supports 30 users and this new server is supposed to scale to 300 users. our application vendor is not very knowledgeable when it comes to sql configuration and administration so we can't really rely on them to set things up.

    i have a good grasp of the processing power that we will need and i'm think we're spec'ing the correct type of storage. we're going to use direct attached SAS array but we're not sure of the number of disks yet. we're trying to run some benchmarks now to estimate what the io requirements will be with 300 users. we're a bit concerned about the transaction levels that we've been seeing since we started looking at the numbers. for 30 users, the average tx per second are between 20-80 but there are times that they will go all the way up to 500 tx per sec so this is a major concern as far selecting the optimal number of drives.

    my main concern though is how to set up the drives. most best practice articles i've read state that the drives should be configured in three raid10 sets. one for the db, one for the logs, and the last for the tempdb. is this what you guys would recommend?

  • That drive layout works very well in practice. The more drives the better is generally the idea, this spreads the workload out accross as many drives as possible.

    Why don't you tell us a little bit about your current server so that we might be able to direct you on specific issues with your current config..

    CEWII

  • thanks for replying. what kind of information do you need? the current sql server is not at my branch as we are still running an older unix based ERP but i should be able to get the info that you need from our branch that is running the sql server.

  • Processor count and speed.

    Memory available onn box and memory allocated to SQL.

    Other applications installed on server.

    Other databases on server.

    Drives (local, iSCSI, SAN, NAS) and underlying structure (RAID5, etc.)

    Layout, drive for logs, data, backups, tempdb..

    Stuff like that, there are a LOT of variables that affect performance.. Another thought is how often ro-orgs are run on the tables..

    CEWII

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