May 13, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Hello. We are getting a new server with the following specs:
Dell PowerEdge R710
12GB Memory 1333MHZ
(2) Xeon E5503, 2.0GHZ, 4M Chache, 800MHZ, Max Mem Processors
We need to run SQL 2000 and possibly SQL 2005. I am planning on turning this into a virtual server. I would like to get the most robust SQL environment and trying to decide on SQL Enterprise vs Standard. My question revolves around the processors.
If I creat a Virtual server with:
-64 Bit Server 2003
-6 GB Ram
-2 Processors
What should I do with SQL? Should I get enterprise version so it can use more than 2gb of RAM? I noticed that enterprise is only licensed for 1 processor. Am I correct in assuming that SQL 2000 Standard will use both processors, but only 2gb of RAM. But, SQL Enterprise will use only one processor but more than 2gb of RAM? Do I have to decide on Processor power vs memory power?
Any other words of wisdom related to my setup would be greatly appreciated.
June 17, 2011 at 8:02 am
Standard edition can support up to 64 GB of memory: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143685.aspx
As far as deciding CPU vs Memory it depends on what your systems are doing. Are your processes CPU bound (i.e. lots of aggregations)? If not, with SQL Server more memory is pretty much always better. Some things to watch out for when virtualizing is that when you setup the VM with X amount of memory, talk with your VM admin and make sure you're ACTUALLY getting that much. VM admins can restrict how much memory your system actually uses as opposed to how much it "sees", same thing goes with processing power.
Also why do you need to run SQL 2000 and SQL 2005? Can your 2000 databases just live on 2005 instance and the databases stay running in 2000 compatibility mode? If so, try that out. Also if you're separating versions for the sake of breaking them apart, look into creating named instances on the highest version level you can and have your applications point there instead. Hopefully this makes sense and helps you out.
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June 17, 2011 at 8:54 am
bcmat (5/13/2011)
Hello. We are getting a new server with the following specs:Dell PowerEdge R710
12GB Memory 1333MHZ
(2) Xeon E5503, 2.0GHZ, 4M Chache, 800MHZ, Max Mem Processors
We need to run SQL 2000 and possibly SQL 2005. I am planning on turning this into a virtual server. I would like to get the most robust SQL environment and trying to decide on SQL Enterprise vs Standard. My question revolves around the processors.
If I creat a Virtual server with:
-64 Bit Server 2003
-6 GB Ram
-2 Processors
What should I do with SQL? Should I get enterprise version so it can use more than 2gb of RAM? I noticed that enterprise is only licensed for 1 processor. Am I correct in assuming that SQL 2000 Standard will use both processors, but only 2gb of RAM. But, SQL Enterprise will use only one processor but more than 2gb of RAM? Do I have to decide on Processor power vs memory power?
Any other words of wisdom related to my setup would be greatly appreciated.
I gotta say that going virtual might be a bit troubling. You have 2procs X 2cores/proc and only 12GB of RAM. You could build a couple probably not more than 4 servers total and more like 2-3. Enterprise is licensed BY processor, so $ x Procs, so in your case $ x 2 if you run it on bare metal. In a virtual environment you will need to reference: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/7/0/270B6380-8B38-4268-8AD0-F480A139AB19/SQL2008R2_LicensingQuickReference-updated.pdf Which basically says if you want to only license 1 processor in a virtualized scenario you can.
Any of the editions can use more than 2GB of RAM but it is easier to do with 64-bit implementations.
If you are going to virtualize don't build the host OS as less than 2008, guest OSs can be something else, but don't handicap yourself at the host side.
CEWII
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