SQL Server Performance Forum – Threads Archive
Question on hardware configuration for SQL
Hello everyone, I#%92m attempting to configure a server that will host two relatively small databases (currently 140 MB and 80 MB) with SQL 2000 as the “back-end†application (is that the right terminology ? – this is the first time I#%92m doing this). The databases are expected to grow moderately but constantly over the years to come – perhaps 20-30 MB per year. I#%92m planning to purchase a server with the following specifications: One 3.0 GHz / 2 MB cache processor (with possibility of adding second processor)One GB of RAM (with at least 3 free slots for growth)
Six 36 GB SCSI 15000 rpm hard drives configured as follows: One RAID 1 array for Windows 2003 server, page file and SQL files
One RAID 1 array for data
One RAID 1 array for log files First of all, does that configuration seem realistic? I THINK it should do quite nicely, given the rather small size of our databases and the relatively modest growth that we expect. More generally, I#%92m not familiar with SQL and several questions have popped up in my mind. What are SQL binaries? Are they simply the files that make SQL work and that I#%92ve planned to put on Array 1? Are they files like TEMPDB, MASTER, MODEL? This seems obvious, but I imagine that at some point I#%92m going to have the option to place database 1 and 2 on the data array and their respective log files on the log array. Would I do this from within SQL or during the installation of the specific database application? Let#%92s say I end up with only enough money for 4 hard drives. In that case, would it be better to put the log files on the same array as the OS, but in a separate partition, or on the same array as the data files (in a separate partition)? Thank you in advance for any advice, Aval
This is a good choice and should handle your hardware needs for some time to come. If you only have a budget for 4 drives (for two arrays), I would put the OS, SQL Server binaries, and other stuff on drive C (first array), and the data files and logs on drive D (second array) with no partitioning. Partitioning doesn’t help performance and provides less flexibility. The SQL binaries refer to the actual SQL Server code, which is often installed on the same array as the OS. You can place the database and log files on any array you want, and can change them whenever you want. Using sp_attachdb and sp_detatchdb are the best ways to do this.
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Brad M. McGehee, MVP
Webmaster
SQL-Server-Performance.Com
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