November 28, 2013 at 8:28 am
Hi All,
We are planning to migrate to SQL Server 2012 from 2005. We are in the initial process of building a 2012 DEV environment in Windows 2012. Please assist me in drive recommendations(how many drives is needed/best practice) for SQL 2012 installation. This is for a critical application. What are the other things I need to be aware of during this initial phase. Although the current SQL 2005 is clustered, we are building a standalone server for new 2012 DEV. Please advise. Any help much appreciated.
Also what is distribution controller and distribution replay in sql 2012 setup. Do need to enable or can I skip this for dev installation?
Thanks...
November 28, 2013 at 8:42 am
SQL!$@w$0ME (11/28/2013)
Hi All,We are planning to migrate to SQL Server 2012 from 2005. We are in the initial process of building a 2012 DEV environment in Windows 2012. Please assist me in drive recommendations(how many drives is needed/best practice) for SQL 2012 installation. This is for a critical application. What are the other things I need to be aware of during this initial phase. Although the current SQL 2005 is clustered, we are building a standalone server for new 2012 DEV. Please advise. Any help much appreciated.
Thanks...
There isn't NEARLY enough information for us to make a recommendation about configuration. I have clients with mission-critical databases that need no more than a single 7200 RPM disk for everything and others than need HUNDREDS of spindles for acceptable performance, throughput, etc. Same goes for RAM and CPU as well. Assuming your SQL 2005 box is performing acceptably and you are simply doing a straight migration you need only a moderate amount of extra RAM/CPU/IO I would think to make up for larger footprints of usage of base things by new versions of Windows and SQL Server. If it isn't performing OK then you need to do an analysis of WHY it isn't slow and then extrapolate/guestimate out to better hardware on the new server to accomplish those goals.
Another wrinkle is if you are on Enterprise Edition then there are some SUBSTANTIAL performance boosters at your disposal. But discussion of those go well beyond forum help.
Best,
Kevin G. Boles
SQL Server Consultant
SQL MVP 2007-2012
TheSQLGuru on googles mail service
November 28, 2013 at 9:40 am
For dev environment d: for app, e: for data, f: for log, g: for tempdb and h: for backup is it too much im asking for?
November 29, 2013 at 6:06 am
SQL!$@w$0ME (11/28/2013)
For dev environment d: for app, e: for data, f: for log, g: for tempdb and h: for backup is it too much im asking for?
Disk letters mean absolutely nothing these days. They can all exist on a SINGLE DISK, or they can each have 100+ spindles. They can be of umpteen RAID flavors too, and either dedicated purely to the SQL Server files you place on them or they can be shared with lots of other apps/files/processes.
Best,
Kevin G. Boles
SQL Server Consultant
SQL MVP 2007-2012
TheSQLGuru on googles mail service
November 29, 2013 at 12:00 pm
SQL!$@w$0ME (11/28/2013)
For dev environment d: for app, e: for data, f: for log, g: for tempdb and h: for backup is it too much im asking for?
If each of those letters represent a single physical drive, and the capacity of each is adequate for the amount of data, that should be an okay starting point. I might add three items:
1. Make E: a RAID array of at least two disks with mirroring, or more drives in a more complex RAID configuration, if you anticipate much growth. That will be your most sensitive drive, and probably the hardest working of the bunch. If it goes tits up, your machine is down until you get a new drive and do a complete rebuild and restore. If part of a RAID array goes down, and you have a spare handy (which you should), down time is minimal. If the server is configured for it, you can even do a hot swap of the failed drive, with down time of zero.
2. Consider making G: a SSD. Performance is better, and tempdb is probably where you would most likely notice the improvement. You should have enough memory for your anticipated workload, but if you overflow and have to page to tempdb, a SSD will help.
3. Don't forget to make ADDITIONAL copies of the stuff on H:, to places completely clear of the machine, preferably completely clear of the building, even clear of the organization where the server lives. Online backup services, backup tapes archived off site, that sort of stuff.
A lot depends on your budget, but you might also consider merging drive functions. Use fewer letters, but put more drives into a RAID array. I have a server configured that way, C: = 2 drives, D: = 4 drives. I thought about splitting the RAID array into a configuration somewhat like you suggest, but most of the reading I've done on the subject indicates that performance is better letting the RAID controller divide up the flow, than trying to isolate the individual disk drives. No direct side-by-side experience, though - I finally decided to leave the machine as is, since the performance is good and I have lots of other work to do.
November 29, 2013 at 2:28 pm
FWIW I still follow the same guidelines as I used a couple of years ago when designing SQLServer hardware.
In dev we don't have the luxury of SSD or Tiered SAN.
In dev, it is generally accepted performance is not the first priority of the box.
However, it doesn't hurt to test your SQLIO / SQLIOSIM skills and design the "low cost" system to perform to its optimum.
Keep in mind to Use Upgrade Advisor to Prepare for Upgrades http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144256.aspx
Johan
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November 29, 2013 at 5:09 pm
Thanks a lot guys... I forgot to mention that this dev environment is a VM. Does these drive recommendations still applies even if its in vm?
November 29, 2013 at 10:30 pm
SQL!$@w$0ME (11/29/2013)
Thanks a lot guys... I forgot to mention that this dev environment is a VM. Does these drive recommendations still applies even if its in vm?
Sure, but being a VM just means you have yet another layer of obfuscation between your CPUs and the bits on disk(s). And in my experience with clients VASTLY increases the likelihood that you are sharing IO with other stuff and also that your machine might get moved auto-magically to some system with very different IO characteristics. 🙂
Best,
Kevin G. Boles
SQL Server Consultant
SQL MVP 2007-2012
TheSQLGuru on googles mail service
November 30, 2013 at 2:59 am
SQL!$@w$0ME (11/29/2013)
Thanks a lot guys... I forgot to mention that this dev environment is a VM. Does these drive recommendations still applies even if its in vm?
If it's a VM, you have no long-term guarantee as to what's actually behind the drive letters. Even if you find out now, it can change with no notice to you. In that case, you need to get with whoever sets up the VM and discuss how it's configured. My #3 still applies, of course, but the first two points are now pretty much outside your control.
November 30, 2013 at 8:37 am
Thanks a lot guys!!!
December 5, 2013 at 10:24 am
Hello All,
we are planning to migrate SQL Server 2005 (Active-Passive Cluster) DW environment to SQL Server 2012 (Active-Passive with AlwaysOn). Below is the
current configuration of our SQL Server 2005 cluster instance.
SQL ClusterName : BWPROD
SQL Instance Name: BWPROD\BWSQL
OS: Windows server 2003 R2
IP Addresses
Cluster - xx.xx.xx.10
DTC - xx.xx.xx.11
SQL - xx.xx.xx.12
Server Configuration
ServerNameNICIP(Public)NICIP(Heartbeat)configurationmemoryno of processors
BWPROD1xx.xx.xx.8xxx.xxx.x.1128GB24
BWPROD2xx.xx.xx.9xxx.xxx.x.2128GB24
Drive Configuration
DriveLetter Label Total Size
C:\localDisk 135 GB
D:\Pagefile 80 GB
E:\Data 11 TB
L:\Logs 2 TB
M:\MSDTC500 MB
Q:\Quorum500 MB
T:\TempDB810 GB
Based on the above details, please advise me of what needs to be done in configuring SQL Server 2012 on windows 2012 using the alwayson feature. I would appreciate it if I can get a detailed configuration information, based from above,needed for SQL Server 2012 installation.Please let me know if you need additional information.
Thanks,
Srikanth
December 5, 2013 at 8:52 pm
srikanth5868, please start a new thread for your question.
Best,
Kevin G. Boles
SQL Server Consultant
SQL MVP 2007-2012
TheSQLGuru on googles mail service
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