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SQL Server Hardware and Acronyms

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Over the weekend I finished reading yet another Red Gate book, this one was SQL Server Hardware by Glenn Berry (t - b).  Having earned my crust as a Windows Engineer before honing my SQL Server Skills and becoming a DBA, I have had this book on my reading list since it was published but thought others would give me more benefit and teach me more.  Oh how wrong I was, I honestly thought 99% of this book I would already know but the reality is that quite a few of the ideas and practices in this book  I have overlooked.  There are some great nuggets in here like Windows Power Plans for example.  Windows Power Plans to quote Glenn are;

“Designed to let you manage how your server uses power, this setting can have a dramatic effect on processor performance, and is controlled through Windows as well as the firmware BIOS settings”
Our SQL Server estate was indeed using the Balanced plan, taking Glenn’s advice and testing the changes we were able to achieve around a 15% improvement in CPU performance on a 2 CPU server.  Given this has no up-front cost, is a low risk change with no downtime surely this is a no brainer?!  Yes there is a small increase in power consumption somewhere around 5%-10% between the Balanced and High performance plans but the performance increase is surly worth this.
Go on have a look, I would be interested to see if anyone else has overlooked this setting.  Glenn’s book can be found over at SQL Server Central, the eBook format is also FREE!
Anyway, back to what I wanted to bring to your attention, the IT industry is full off acronyms many of which are duplicated across technologies.  One of the cool features of Glenn’s book is that Appendix C contains a list of abbreviations used in the book.  Below is the complete list;
AMB
Advanced Memory Buffer
AMD
Advanced Micro Devices
API
Application Programming Interface
AWE
Address Windowing Extensions
BI
Business Intelligence
BIOS
Basic Input Output System
CAL
Client Access License
CDC
Change Data Capture
CIFS
Common Internet File System
CISC
Complex Instruction Set Computer
CPI
Cost per Instruction
CSS
Customer Service and Support
CU
Cumulative Update
DAC
Data Tier Application
DACPAC
Data Tier Application Package
DAS
Direct Attached Storage
DDL
Data Definition Language
DDR
Data Dependent Routing
DESC
in T-SQL, Descending
DIMM
Dual in-line Memory Modules
DML
Data Manipulation Language
DMV
Dynamic Management View
DPV
Distributed Partitioned Views
DRAM
Dynamic Random Access Memory
DSS
Decision Support System
DW
Data Warehouse
EE
Enterprise Edition
EFD
Enterprise Flash Disks
EIST
Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology
EP
Extended Protection
EPIC
Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing
EPT
Extended Page Tables
FDR
Full Disclosure Report
HBA
Host Bus Adaptors
HT
Hyper-threading
IDE
Integrated Drive Electronics
ILP
Instruction Level Parallelism
IOP
Input Output Operation
IOPS
Input/Output Operations per Second
ISM
Incremental Servicing Model
ISV
Independent Software Vendor
LPIM
Lock Pages in Memory
LUN
Logical Unit Number
MAXDOP
Max Degree of Parallelism
MCH
Memory Controller Hub
MDS
Master Data Services
MLC
Multi Level Cell
MMC
Microsoft Management Console
MPIO
Multi Path Input Output
NIC
Network Interface Card
NTLM
NT Lan Manager
NUMA
Non-Uniform Memory Architecture
ODBC
Open Database Connectivity
OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer
OLAP
Online Analytical Processing
OLTP
Online Transaction Processing
OMSA
Open Manage System Administrator
PAE
Physical Address Extension
PATA
Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment
PCU
Public Cumulative Update
PK
Primary Key
POST
Power On Self-Test
QPI
Quick Path Interconnect
RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Disk
RAS
Reliability, Availability and Serviceability
RDIMM
Registered Dual In-line Memory Modules
RISC
Reduced Instruction Set Computer
RPO
Recovery Point Objective
RTM
Release to Manufacturing
RTO
Recovery Time Objective
RVI
Rapid Virtualization Indexing
SAN
Storage Area Network
SAS
Serial Attached SCSI
SATA
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
SCOM
System Center Operations Manager
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface
SKU
Stock Keeping Unit
SLAT
Second Level Address Translation
SLC
Single Level Cell
SMB
Server Message Block
SMP
Symmetrical Multiprocessing
SPD
Serial Presence Detect
SPEC
Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation
SQLCAT
SQL Server Customer Advisory Team
SQLIO
SQL IO, a disk benchmarking utility
SQLOS
SQL Server Operating System
SSAS
SQL Server Analysis Services
SSD
Solid-State Drives
SSMS
SQL Server Management Studio
SSRS
SQL Server Reporting Services
SUT
System Under Test
TAP
Technology Adoption Program
TDE
Transparent Data Encryption
TPC
Transaction Processing Performance Council
TpsE
Transactions per second for TPC-E benchmark
UCP
Utility Control Point
VAS
Virtual Address Space
VT
Virtual Technology
WSUS
Windows Server Update Services
Enjoy!
Chris

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