SQL Server for TFS Setup

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SQL Server for TFS Setup

jraymer80

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Points: 146
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August 5, 2015 at 9:11 am

#303094

I am planning on setting up a TFS server for my team. I'm planning on a 2 server install with the SQL Server being separate. I've been googling all over the place and I can't find recommendations for hardware. I found the minimum requirements, which are not a problem, but I'm trying to get an optimal setup.
What I need to know is if I am planning on separate OS, Data and Log drives. How large should they be for a TFS install?
Thanks in advance.

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Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323574 More actions · Answer 1

i can tell you how my TFS is setup, and I've had no problems. use that to help make a more informed decision.

my TFS is on a single virtual server with TFS and it's SQL db on the same server. with 4 gig of ram and two processors. SQL is limited to 3 gig of ram, with 1 gig for the OS + TFS processes.

it's accessed by around 20 developers, and the db footprint for five years worth of development is around 6 gig for data, with the log having expanded to 1.2 gig max , most likely due to indexing.

I've got three drives that SQL uses, which is just our standard layout, for data/logs/backups, but they all end up getting mapped to a SAN on the backside, so it's really the same device.

the bigger footprint is disk space. our developers like to save previous builds.

The default builds folder is on a drive with 200 gig of space, and we've had to go in several times, and cull old builds due to disk space.

one of our apps, for example, takes about two gig of disk space for a build. a history of thirty consecutive builds ends up being sixty gig, and other projects would end up having similar disk requirements.

once we got the developers to remove old builds we would never need, we resolved disk space issues.

no developer has ever reported that TFS was "slow" or anything in this setup, so i don't know if you'd need more horsepower than that.

Lowell

--help us help you! If you post a question, make sure you include a CREATE TABLE... statement and INSERT INTO... statement into that table to give the volunteers here representative data. with your description of the problem, we can provide a tested, verifiable solution to your question! asking the question the right way gets you a tested answer the fastest way possible!

jraymer80 SSC Enthusiast Points: 146 More actions · Answer 2

Thanks Lowell! That helps A LOT.

Seeing actual sizes from historical usage is great and helps me get the disk sizes right!

Would it be too much to ask how to set up the backup strategy for it? I've had issues in the past with log files growing out of control.

Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323574 More actions · Answer 3

well, i don't consider TFS to be highly volatile, the developers might have what, a hundred or so check-ins a day?

so this is my default setup for backups:

ALL TFS databases are set for FULL recovery.

i keep one local Full backup, plus all log/diff related on the local drive, and 30 days of all backups archived out to a backup server.

so for each given db, i do:

Full Backup(compressed) Mon Thur; i'm using Redgate now, but i can do the same with native compressed backups.

DIFF every night.

Log Backups every four hours

all backups copy to a network location as well as local.

part of that setup above is powershell command that delete local backups i don't need any more; so if i do a FULL backup of [Tfs_Configuration], i delete all previous log,diff or full backups of that db locally.

Lowell

--help us help you! If you post a question, make sure you include a CREATE TABLE... statement and INSERT INTO... statement into that table to give the volunteers here representative data. with your description of the problem, we can provide a tested, verifiable solution to your question! asking the question the right way gets you a tested answer the fastest way possible!