March 15, 2007 at 8:08 am
We've installed OS's and database engines for years - Sybase, SQL Server 7, SQL Server 8, and we've done 9 (2005 Enterprise Server) on Dell 6250s; with no more than the usual Windows annoyances.
We have good hardware people, systems people, database people.
Yet installing Windows Enterprise Server 2003 as a platform for SQL Server Enterprise 2003 on the x64 platform (Sun Fire X4600) has been agonizing.
There seem to be a million simple ways to screw it up. Install IE 7? Repave. Install IIS from "Add Programs" instead of "Manage Your Server"? Repave. You think you're almost there you know all the gotchas and then you reboot, and suddenly all the settings revert to default: goodbye classic view.
Now, if I get it all right, and get a FULLY running FULLY configured system up, then it will run like a top, endlessly, without problems. Really sweet.
Why am I telling you this? I'm just curious, do we have a problem of our own, or is this a general experience in x64 installations? Have others had these kinds of hard to define, "look at it the wrong way" things?
On the first 2 servers we figured it was learning curve, and what we had learned would save us next time from needing a month to get it working. Nope, the next 2 servers are being bizarre too, and it's been a month.
Are we just idiots or is the x64 install more dicey than others?
Roger L Reid
March 15, 2007 at 8:25 am
We've built a development environment using dell PowerEdge 2850's (x64 dual quad-core xeon processors) without any difficulty. We installed Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition for OS and SQL Server 2005 x64 Developer Edition as the database engine.
We had no issues installing and configuring either of them.
March 15, 2007 at 9:01 am
how is the driver install with Sun? With HP you boot with CD, tell it the OS and then it installs everything for you and tells you when to put the OS CD in and then installs the drivers.
maybe with Sun there is a conflict between their drivers and some of the OS updates?
March 15, 2007 at 11:35 am
Definately the Sun install for Win 2003 is awful. You really have to check all the drivers; and then, for example, the CPU drivers (I'm not used to CPU drivers, but there they are) were old, generic Microsoft ones; and we needed the latest ones from AMD. And then, we had to change the driver for each CPU individually (I forget if we had to reboot between each CPU). The drivers were a big issue. And from the bit of talk we have, I more and more suspect that its because we have to mess around with it so much that we're having trouble - too many chances to do something wrong.
I wanted Opteron, for the bus, but we've run Sun for our Solaris servers for years, and the hardware guys are very comfortable with them. Also the power consulmption is low and the price was great. But I don't think Sun is putting much effort into supporting Windows. Thier Solaris installs are very very good.
Roger L Reid
March 16, 2007 at 4:51 am
I have done W2003 x64 installs on a xeon box. I needed to go back to the hardware vendor site to get some working x64 drivers. (An x86 install on the same hardware worked OK with the drivers in Windows.)
Having got W2003 x64 running, SQL2005 x64 installed OK. However, I did find that some OCX components for DTS custom tasks needed to go in \SysWOW64 instead of the 32-bit location of \system32.
I was disappointed that driver provision is more complicated in 64-bit than in 32-bit. (The same applied to 64-bit Vista, but I got that running eventually.) It could be said that 64-bit is new, so we should expect some issues beyond the more familiar 32-bit installs. However, I do not see lower purchase and support charges for x64, so I would expect the same ease of install and management as x86.
Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.
When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist - Archbishop Hélder Câmara
March 16, 2007 at 8:01 am
It sounds like most of the trouble has been with drivers rather than SQL2K5. Is this a fair generalization? Also, why are people installing the 32-bit version rather than the x64 version? There's no difference in the license cost?
Cheers,
Dan
March 16, 2007 at 8:31 am
I'm not installing 32-bit SQL 2K - the reason to use the 64 bit platform is so I can support the amount of memory I need (currently, 16 GB for the default instance and between 4 and 8 for three additional instances).
I have had some issues in the SQL9 install, but they are things that - once I had it right - stayed right, and I could then follow on future installations. That's the curve I expected - the first one messy, with each later one being easier.
But I can't run the SQL Server without the OS, and the OS install on Sun has been consistantly abysmal. Why Sun? Because we own dozens of Sun servers for Solaris. Our Windows servers are mostly Dells, but I insisted on Opteron for the SQL Server. The 4600 is great in the number of CPUs, amount of memory and IO cards it can support - I can just keep adding CPUs and memory as needed. And the performance is AWESOME once I get them running. But unlike SQL2K, it doesn't get easier with each install. We just find new ways to wreck.
Roger L Reid
May 25, 2007 at 8:25 am
finally got a 64 bit SQL installed for testing and setting it up now. We are using HP DL 380 G5 with the Xeon 64bit CPU's.
Set up was a snap. Put in HP SmartStart, set up RAID, tell it which OS you want and then put in the OS CD. It installs everything for you including the drivers.
After the OS/driver install add .NET, install Windows 2003 SP2, and then the HP Driver pack 7.8 for x64. I think they call it the foundation pack. one install has all the drivers for every piece of hardware going back years. They even work on the old compaq branded servers from the late 1990s. For windows 2000 it tops out at version 7.6. No need to go driver hunting. Just use only HP branded hardware and driver issues are a thing of the past. I've even added new hardware into an existing server and it found the drivers without a need to install.
HP Servers rule
May 29, 2007 at 9:01 am
Well, my issues can't be entirely hardware and driver based, since MS has released some hotfixes for things like the overwriting of the All Users profile - making administration of the box damned hard.
Roger L Reid
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