February 14, 2012 at 8:25 am
Hello
I need to make recommendations for a server to run SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition.
The database that is currently running on SQL Server 2000 Enterprise on Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
DB Size: 75 GB
Transaction Log size: 6 GB
# of users: 137
My recommendations so far...
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
RAM: 2GB
Processor type: Pentium III-compatible processor or faster
Processor speed: 2.0 GHz or faster
Hard drive: 150 GB
I took my list from the link below - I would appreciate advice with any details I may have overlooked.
Thanks in advance
Dave
February 14, 2012 at 8:38 am
NJDave (2/14/2012)
I need to make recommendations for a server to run SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition.
The database that is currently running on SQL Server 2000 Enterprise on Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
DB Size: 75 GB
Transaction Log size: 6 GB
# of users: 137
My recommendations so far...
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
RAM: 2GB
Processor type: Pentium III-compatible processor or faster
Processor speed: 2.0 GHz or faster
Hard drive: 150 GB
I took my list from the link below - I would appreciate advice with any details I may have overlooked.
Thanks in advance
Dave
First that post is from 2008..
What enterprise features are you using that justifies Enterprise Edition, thats a lot of money that needs to be justified by feature requirements.
How many cores?
How much memory?
How many disks?
How are your drive(s) going to be layed out?
What editions of the OS and SQL are you planning on using, and WHY?
How does the existing hardware performan and how is it setup?
CEWII
February 14, 2012 at 9:14 am
Thanks for the quick reply - I tried to answer each question below...
How many cores?
How do I determine this? They use 16 now...
How much memory? 2GB -based on the article from 2008
How many disks?
I would figure...
(C:) local
(E:) SQLData
(F:) SQLLog
What editions of the OS and SQL are you planning on using, and WHY?
For OS and SQL version I just replaced with 2008 - there is PII data that they want to have encrypted at the column level and was not 100% sure that standard had this feature - standard only allows for 4 processors while Enterprise does OS max # of processors. What would be the main reason for using Enterprise over Standard? I've looked at comparisons but what is the turning point for Standard vs Enterprise?
How does the existing hardware perform and how is it setup?
16 cores
CPU 3.2GHz
RAM 4GB
History of problems with slow performance and running out of space for data and logs - logs are backed up hourly to keep down size. The C: drive was only given 8GB and only 1GB is available (unknown why this was done) on other drives they used mountpoints to point to other drives.
Thanks
Dave
February 14, 2012 at 9:31 am
NJDave (2/14/2012)
Thanks for the quick reply - I tried to answer each question below...How many cores?
How do I determine this? They use 16 now...
How much memory? 2GB -based on the article from 2008
How many disks?
I would figure...
(C:) local
(E:) SQLData
(F:) SQLLog
What editions of the OS and SQL are you planning on using, and WHY?
For OS and SQL version I just replaced with 2008 - there is PII data that they want to have encrypted at the column level and was not 100% sure that standard had this feature - standard only allows for 4 processors while Enterprise does OS max # of processors. What would be the main reason for using Enterprise over Standard? I've looked at comparisons but what is the turning point for Standard vs Enterprise?
How does the existing hardware perform and how is it setup?
16 cores
CPU 3.2GHz
RAM 4GB
History of problems with slow performance and running out of space for data and logs - logs are backed up hourly to keep down size. The C: drive was only given 8GB and only 1GB is available (unknown why this was done) on other drives they used mountpoints to point to other drives.
Thanks
Dave
I don't use Windows EE unless I'm clustering (not quite a hard rule but close). I don't use SQL EE unless I need (and can justify the cost) of a feature. I always assume standard until my mind gets changed.
So 16 cores, is that 2x8, 4x4? Either way standard supports it, remember in SQL 2008 they don't license COREs, they license PROCESSORS, or more aptly CPU sockets, so it you only have 2 sockets on the board you are good.
I wouldn't install SQL without 4GB of RAM and I would really say go with at least 8GB. Remember memory has one of the single largest effect on performance.
Drive layout is ok, where is tempdb? Are these all on the same disks? Local storage? SAN storage? How many spindles? How many channels on the controllers?
Comparison of features:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993.aspx
Keep in mind that EE of SQL costs about 4x more than Standard.. I think that is true for the OS as well. Sometimes you can use these changes to offset more hardware. Like, I saved you $15K by going standard and I want to add $5K in additional resources.
Keep in mind your boot drive probably isn't going to be smaller than 35GB and I recommend 50GB.
Oh and be sure to go 64-Bit if at all possible, it makes a difference.
CEWII
February 14, 2012 at 10:06 am
Thanks Elliot – your info is very helpful.
“So 16 cores, is that 2x8, 4x4? Either way standard supports it, remember in SQL 2008 they don't license COREs, they license PROCESSORS, or more aptly CPU sockets, so it you only have 2 sockets on the board you are good.”
“Drive layout is ok, where is tempdb? Are these all on the same disks? Local storage? SAN storage? How many spindles? How many channels on the controllers?”
SAN storage - I’m still learning to answer all these questions (I’m a developer turned DBA) but thanks for pointing me in the direction of what I need to learn.
Thanks again
Dave
February 14, 2012 at 10:21 am
You are welcome.
Depending on your environment you may have less control over some things. For example you mention SAN storage, how LUNS are spread accross the drive array may be something you have very little control over and instead are stuck with asking for X GB of space..
CEWII
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