This is my third in a series of checklists that I am putting together for a new book designed for DBAs to help audit their SQL Server instances. Previously I blogged about my SQL Server Hardware Checklist and my SQL Server Operating System Checklist. The goal of this checklist is to help DBAs document how their SQL Server instances are configured, which in turn may reveal some potential changes that could be made in order to better optimize their performance and availability.
Category Archives: Database Administration
SQL Server Operating System Checklist
As a part of a new book project, I am putting together a series of checklists that DBAs can use to inventory and audit their servers. Previously, I blogged about my SQL Server Hardware Checklist, in this post, I am writing about my Operating System Checklist. The goal of the checklist is to help DBAs document how the operating system is configured, which in turn could reveal some potential changes that should be made to the operating system in order to better optimize it for SQL Server.
SQL Server Hardware Checklist
I’m in the process of putting together a SQL Server hardware inventory/audit checklist for an upcoming book project. The purpose of this list is to provide a comprehensive listing of all the important information about the components of a physical server used to run SQL Server. Besides collecting hardware information, it is also designed to collect some configuration information that may be of importance for SQL Server performance and high availability.
What is the Ideal SQL Server Test Box?
I’m thinking about setting up a SQL Server test box in my home office for doing some extensive, real-world SQL Server performance testing. So far, here is what I am thinking about getting:
–Because I have limited space, the test box will need to be a tower. I will also be limited to one physical test box because of a lack of room (and budget).
–CPU: 2 sockets with a total of at least 8 cores. Haven’t decided on the specific chips yet.
–RAM: At least 36GB. I want to have the ability to set up multiple virtual servers in the test box.
–RAID Controller: Must support RAID 1, 5, & 10, and any mixture of these RAID levels.
–Drives: I am looking at getting 8-16, 15K SAS drives, with a minimum capacity of 450GB each. The number of drives will depend on what I can fit into my budget, and how many can fit in a tower.
I am still very much in the research stage, so my question to you is, if you could spec out your own SQL Server home test system, and you had $10,000 to spend, what you buy, and why?
PS: If you are a hardware vendor and would be interesting in letting me borrow such a test box from you for the next year or so, I would be very interested in talking with you. 🙂
Two Blog Series You Don’t Want to Miss
Blogs are a great way to learn new things about SQL Server, and just in case you have missed them, I want to recommend the following two blog series that I feel every DBA should read.
SQL Server Monitoring Checklist
I have worked with a lot of organizations who have just a small handful of SQL Server instances. In most of these cases, these SQL Servers contain mission-critical data, but on the other hand, these organizations are not big enough to justify a full-time DBA, so either they subcontract the DBA work to an outside organization, or they assign someone from within the company to be the a “part-time” DBA.
Brad M McGehee 