HW for MS SQL?

[llam]

Hi, my company is switch from Pervasive SQL to Microsoft SQL. We are planning to buy a new system for it. We want to have the server to last for 3 to 5 years. What kind of hardware should I get for MS SQL? (I personally do not trust the consultant that we are buying MS SQL from, as we should not get into Pervasive if we know that we have to upgrade to MS SQL today)

Anyway, do you think it is good enough?

Dual Intel® XeonT Processor at 2.6GHz w/ 512K Cache
2GB DDR SDRAM (2X1GB)
2 x 18G 15K rpm in RAID1 for OS (Windows 2000 Server)
3 x 36G 15K rpm in RAID5 for Data and Log
On board ethernet

I am trying to quote it from Dell with PowerEdge 2600 series. There's number of RAID cards. What are the different between these two?

- PowerEdge Raid Controller 3,DC,128MB,2-Internal, 0-External Channels (CAD$1588)
- PowerEdge Raid Controller 4,DI,128MB,2-Internal, 0-External Channels (CAD$449)

btw, currently we are running 6G of data with 200 databases in Pervasive SQL. We are expectly to have 10-15% growth each year.

I am sorry that I do not have any experience in MS SQL, that's the reason why I would like to get the right hareware running it. Thanks!!

 

[SQLSister]

Some questions - are you running websites with lots of connections or are you running client server with very limited connections? Do you run 24/7 or only during business hours? Do you require a hot spare ready to go into place if something happens? Also don't forget to plan for a development environment (and staging too if you can squeeze out the money) as well as production. You might also consider that your system will run faster if data, logs, and indexes are all on separate hard drives with separate hard drive controllers. You may also need to consider whether you need to run partioned views of your data for performance reasons. Also are you running Enterprise Edition or standard edition. I believ you check out books on line for specs for each as I am pretty sure that Standard edition cannot use as much RAM as Enterprise.

 

[tlbroadbent]

The SQL 2000 Operations Guide may be helpful. Chapter 6 covers Capacity and Storage Management.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/maintain/operate/opsguide/default.asp

If you want to get the best answer for your question read faq183-874 and thread183-468158.
Terry L. Broadbent - DBA
SQL Server Page:

http://tlbroadbent.home.attbi.com/sql/sql_articles.htm

 

[llam]

Oh, sorry for missing the important information. The MS SQL is mainly for the purpose of accounting use - Great Plains Dynamics. It will mainly be used during office hours. A few minutes of down time is ok to us, but we cannot take a whole day of down time. Between Enterprise or Standard, that's my question too. I know that standard version limited to 2G of memory. Is that good enough for us for a few years of time? If not, should I consider to go for Enterprise now? or upgrade it later?

I am currently reading the chapter you mention, tlbroadbent. I hope it will give light for the way.

Thanks!