Server spec help

Question

Hi,
 
We have ordered the follwoing for 12-15k of elements:
 
1 x SolarWinds Orion SLX (unlimited nodes/elements)
 
And 
 
1 x SolarWinds additional polling Engine
 
We are now buying 2 servers, can you recommend what server specs each should be?  We will be putting SQL 2005 on the Orion server.
 
Thanks

abchurch · Answer

I am concerned that you will not have the horsepower to monitor that many elements at 5 minute poll cycles with two servers, one of which will be the SQL back end.

However, as you probably do not have much choice, I would recommend adjusting your settings, offloading as much work onto the 01 box as possible, and go from there.

Some suggestions:

set poll cycle for performance metrics at 10 minutes
run 64-bit operating system, 64-bit SQL
the fastest disks you can get your hands on
the fastest procs (not the most cores, the highest Ghz) you can get your hands on
be aware your webserver will be on the primary poller, can affect performance

bshopp · Answer

It depends on how you configure SQL, etc.  I would just try it, and he see how it performs.  If it’s slow, you can either modify the polling intervals or move it later.

GonzoUK · Answer

Hi,

We only have the 2 servers to use here.  There will be no extra mods for this, we will poll for stats every 5 minutes and keep data dor 1 year only.

Can the SQL install go on the polling engine server?