Windows 2008 Datacenter vs Windows 2008 Itanium

[johnny99]

Hi

We are planning for a database server setup where we want to use Windows 2008 Datacenter or Windows 2008 Itanium as the platform for MS-SQL Server 2005

Does anyone have some advice on what the strength and weakness is for the 2 platforms?

/johnny

 

[mrdenny]

Data center is very expensive. When I was looking into it's costs it was about $2500 per CPU.

This page has the breakdown on the technical specs between the two.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/compare-specs.aspx

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

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[johnny99]

I don't think cost is a big issue for Windows.
USD 2.500 per CPU isn't much compared to the cost of MS SQL-Server.

The information Microsoft give isn't very helpful.

I was thinking more in the direction if someone has expirience in what the strength and weakness is for the 2 platforms?

Is there any special problems with one platfor over the other.

/johnny

 

[mrdenny]

Itanium can pretty much be used for SQL Server, and Exchange and that's it. Not much else will run, as no one has compiled anything for it.

Yeah, $2500 per CPU is nothing compared to SQL, but when you are already spending $100k for SQL Enterprise, and you need another $10k just for the OS, it's a little much unless you really need the RAM or CPU count.

Last I heard Itanium chips were much more expensive than x64 CPUs, but they are supposed to be faster.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

My Blog

 

[johnny99]

If we go with the Itanium setup we will use a couple of HP Integrity rx8640 Server to start with.
There are not that big, but also not that expensive.
And since Windows 2008 Itanium will only support 32 CPU's it is a good choise except for the maximum of 512 GB memory

We use the HP Integrity rx8640 Server for a lot of mid-range database servers running HP-UX and Oracle, but for big databases we run them on HP-UX and HP Integrity Superdome Server where we can have 64 CPU sockets and 2 TB of memory.

The other option would be to go for a setup with HP Integrity Superdome Server.

But can anyone tell me what platform is the best to run a MS SQL-Server on?

/johnny