SQL Server Performance Forum – Threads Archive

Quad CPU Server Selection

We are upgrading our corporate accounting system. Our accounting vendor has moved from a proprietary database to SQL server 2000 (not supporting 2005 until next year). For our size (100 users), they recommend a Quad Xeon 3.0 GHz or higher server with 4 GB of ram. This server will be used only to host the accounting software and database. We have quotes on 3 servers with the following specs:
All three are quad processor systems with 4GB DDR2 400MHZ ram 1. 3.16GHz, 1MB cache, Xeon 667MHz Front Side Bus ~ $12,000
2. 3.0GHz, 8MB cache, Xeon 667MHz Front Side Bus ~ $17,000
2. 3.0GHz, 2x2MB cache, Xeon 667MHz Front Side Bus ~ $23,000 We are not experts on what all these specifications mean and any insight would be greatly appreciated.

You haven’t mentioned the edition of SQL server & operating system used here, as there are few tweaks depending upon the previous versions of Operating system and edition of sQL Server. http://www.sql-server-performance.com/dk_massive_scalability.asp for information and further assessment. HTH Satya SKJ
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Any of those configurations should do what you need, depending on how the code is written. I did not see the disk configuration. Disks can make or break performance.

Thanks HTH, I should have been more clear.
The OS will be 2003 Server
We will have to use SQL 2000 as the software does not support 2005 yet. Thanks

All three quotes are configured for:
Hard Drive: 36GB, U320, SCSI, 1IN 15K
HD Controller: Embedded RAID We thought we would run RAID1 on the data partition. The database is about 14-16GB with an anticipated 2-3GB per year growth. The 100 concurrent users is my primary concern. Thanks All

vendors generally have no better idea on hardware selection than the typical user,
almost every one recommends a 4-way. i have seen one vendor tout an old "study" showing a 4-way Pentium III Xeon at 700 as supporting 1000 user, then recommend a 4-way Xeon 2.8GHz for the same 1000 users, with no accounting for the difference in performance between the 2 systems. depending on your company policy on approval for HW purchases,
my preference is to first buy a 2 socket system with dual core proc.
examples:
1. Dell PowerEdge 2850 with 2 Dual Core Xeon, 2.8GHz 2x2M cache at approx $4K list
2. HP Proliant DL 380 with same proc
3. HP Proliant DL 385 with 2 Opteron Dual Core 2.0GHz proc, may $5K list? if neither of these system can carry the load, then neither will the 4-way single core systems and they are much more expensive.
then just rotate the 2 sockets system to a backup role and buy the 4-scoket dual core system.
think of the 4-5K system as an insurance policy for not over spending. on the matter of disks, ignore capacity, focus on how many spindles (disk drives) are required to carry the transactional load.
i recommend starting with 2 internal drives for the OS, page & program files,
then one external rack of 10-14 U320 SCSI drives or SAS.

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