MCITP Administrator: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database Server Infrastructure Design Study Guide (70-443) Chapter 1: Designing the Hardware and Software Infrastructure

Principles of Infrastructure Planning is essential Important to understand underlying premises, not a single set of rules Infrastructure desighn varies by project – no one size fits all © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Analyzing Current Configurtaion Inventory operating systems, service packs and hotfixes running Confirm that all service packs and hotfixes applied Identify compatibility issues Inventory SQL Server editions, versions, service packs and hotfixes Update service packs and hotfixes as necessary – for SQL Server these can be obtained ay mspx mspx © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Analyzing Current Configuration Inventory which SQL Server services are running, especially –SQL Server Engine –SQL Server Agent –SQL Server Analysis Services –SQL Server Reporting Services –SQL Server Integration Services –SQL Server Browser –SQL Server Full-Text Searc © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Analyzing Current Configuration Inventory hardware, including disk subsystems, CPU, network cards and power supplies on servers. Note RAID and SCSI use, if any Record existing SQL Server configuration settings Record SQL Server instances and where they exist Record minimum and maximum settings, CPU used by each instance Assess quality of database server documentation © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Analyzing Current Configuration Determine locations of transaction log files and data files. Examine the use of filegroups. Assess is adequate data-file sizes are allocated to databases. Verify AutoShrink property is set to false. Determine if disk maintenance activities such as defragmentation are performed routinely. Review Event Viewer records to identify disk-storage related problems. © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Forecasting Growth Requirements Is growth planned for or anticipated? Are there plans to utilize applictaions that require additional dtabases Are there plans to improve the database server hardware What changes in cost of hardwrae are expected? What data archiving requirements exist? What are the regulatory requirements? © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Business Requirements to Consider in planning Budgetary constraints Existing IT Policies –Remote Access Policies –Encryption –Service-Level Agreements –Standard hardware and software configurations Regulatory Requirements Data Security –Confidentiality agreements –Privacy restrictions –Data encryption needs –External regulations Data availability © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Analyzing Storage Requirements Assess Current Storage Capacity –Disk space capacity –Disk throughput capacity –Locations and roles of database servers © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Forecasting/Planning Storage Requirements Establish estinmation period Project Growth Rate of Required Disk Space –Linear growth –Compound growth –Geometric growth © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Assessing Impact of Regulatory Requirements Regulatory requirements will affect how long data needs to be retained, the level of security and thus storage requirements. Most common types of impact: –Longevity –Privacy –Security © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Analyzing Network Requirements All DBAs need to have nuts and bolts understanding All DBAs need to identify key factors when analyzing current traffic All DBAs need to be able to estimate future network requirements © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Identifying Factors Influencing Database Network Traffic Create a network digram showing parts of network that: –Deliver relicated data rto other servers –Backup files to network devices –Provide data to client applications Identify following connectivity influencers: –Local and remote connections between servers –Firewalls –Antivirus applications © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Identifying Factors Influencing Database Network Traffic Gather following information about each database server: –Number of SQL Server instances –Instance names –Installed SQL services –Network protocols © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Analyzing Current Database Network Traffic Traffic between servers Backup processes Database mirroring Replication Traffic between clients and servers Identify potential bottlenecks © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Forecasting & Planning Future Network Requirements Make a growth estmaet for each network type Establish a baseline and study trends Understand specific business needs and the expected workload for the estimation period. © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Analyzing CPU Requirements Assess Current CPU Performance by reviewing: –Type of CPUs –Affinity Mask settings –Current CPU usage –Identify bottlenecks © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Forecasting & Planning CPU Requirements Determine Estimation Period Establish baseline of CPU usage Identify factors effecting CPU usage Confirm estimates by performing load tests and by using sizing tools © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Memory Requirements: Assess Current Status Determine how much physical memory is installed on the server What processes make use of memory Use the following System Monitor counters to assess potential bottlenecks: –Memory: Available Bytes –Memory: Pages/sec –SQL Server: Memory Manager –Process: Working Set –SQL Server: Buffer Manager –SQL Server: Buffer Manager: Page Life Expectancy Determine if database and memory size match is correct Determine amount of memory used by connections © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Memory Requirements: Forecasting & Planning Determine the number of SQL Server instances Estimate database growth Specify the number of concurrent users Use baseline data Determine the rate of growth I memory usage over time © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Specifying Software Versions & Hardware Configurations Meet or exceed design requirements Perform cost-benefit analyses Choose from approved hardwrae & software configurations Be prepared to justify variations from standards © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Choosing Version and Edition of Operating System The edition of SQL Server 2005 is dependent of which OS and version is in use Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 or higher is required Your machine must meet hardware requirements Hardware requirements are different for each edition © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Five Editions of SQL Server Express Workgroup Standard Enterprise Developer © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Standard/Enterprise/ Developer Editions For 32-bit CPUs 600 MHz Pentium III-compatible or faster processor; 1 GHz or faster processor recommended 512 MB of RAM minimum, 1 GB or more recommended ~350 MB of available hard-disk space for the recommended installation with ~425 MB of additional space for Books Online, and sample databases Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later; Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 4 or later; Windows Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter Edition with Service Pack 1 or later; Windows Small Business Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 or later © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Standard/Enterprise/ Developer Editions For x64 CPUs 1-GHz AMD Opteron, AMD Athlon 64, Intel Xeon with Intel EM64T support, Intel Pentium IV with EM64T support processor 512 MB of RAM minimum, 1 GB or more recommended ~350 MB of available hard-disk space for the recommended installation with ~425 MB of additional space for Books Online, and sample databases Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition, Enterprise x64 Edition, or Datacenter x64 Edition with SP 1 or later; Windows XP Professional x64 Edition or later © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Standard/Enterprise/ Developer Editions For Itanium CPUs 1-GHz Itanium or faster processor 512 MB of RAM minimum, 1 GB or more recommended ~350 MB of available hard-disk space for the recommended installation with ~425 MB of additional space for Books Online, and sample databases Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition or DataCenter Edition for Itanium-based systems with SP 1 or later © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Express Edition 600 MHz Pentium III-compatible or faster processor; 1 GHz or faster processor recommended 192 MB of RAM minimum; 512 MB or more recommended ~350 MB of available hard-disk space for the recommended installation with ~425 MB of additional space for Books Online, and sample databases Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later; Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 4 or later; Windows Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter Edition with Service Pack 1 or later; Windows Small Business Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 or later © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.

Workgroup Edition 600 MHz Pentium III-compatible or faster processor; 1 GHz or faster processor recommended 512 MB of RAM minimum, 1 GB or more recommended ~350 MB of available hard-disk space for the recommended installation with ~425 MB of additional space for Books Online, and sample databases Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later; Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 4 or later; Windows Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter Edition with Service Pack 1 or later; Windows Small Business Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 or later © Wiley Inc All Rights Reserved.