Hello,
This is my first posting and I'm new to both Solarwinds and SQL. We are in the process of building the SQL server and I need to know if Solarwinds support the SQL database on a SAN?
Thanks!
I'm running netflow, orion, and NCM on the same DB, as well as some other app's DBs. it is 4 proc/8 core, 32 GB RAM (only using 8-10) and cpu usage is pretty low. I am connected to SAN, and we did run into problems a while ago, but it was resolved by simply configuring the SQL DB memory to utilize AWE.
Test this and you will probably see marked improvements.
Sure does. So long as the SQL server is concerned, the disk the DB's sit on is local so Solarwinds could care less.
Thanks! This is my first install and we are putting the SQL DB on a dedicated server and the question about local disks or SAN disk was onoe issue. Also we are stuck at this time using VMWare server for the polling platform...
Keep your SQL off your Orion boxes like you have planned. Also, no VM for the SQL server, but it is fine to run the polling engines on VM. You're in the right place to ask these questions. Good luck!
Was told recently this is still a no-no by SW. ??? -Debbi
Thanks for the reply!
What we have found when people run on SANs is that they tend to run with a very low disk write capacity. Orion writes a lot of data to disk, and with that configuraiton, they get poor performance, and there's not much we can do to help.
So it's possible to run on a SAN, provided that the SAN is configured appropriately. We are currently working on some metrics to help users gauge whether their SAN can handle Orion.
Hello again. I wanted to follow up on this. I have moved our SQL db to a SAN and things are working extremely well. Granted, it is a very 'beefy' SAN but still, the performance is amazingly better. The only problems I can see from doing this is if you overload your SAN. In other words, it is hardware dependent and also dependent upon your layout/situation.
I am even running NTA now, which was unheard of before. They are looking at a strange memory error in NTA but once that is resolved, we should be good to go.
Thanks again for asking this question and for all the suggestions/answers!
Hi Denny,
1-) URGENT ! That metrics tool to gauge the SAN I/O performance is of a great help.
I would appreciate if you could send me even a non-supported, beta version as I have to decise about SAN, since the IT Admin are against old Tech (Spindles / 6 Disks 15 KRMP) , The company trend is HP Blade servers with SAN on Fiber Channel.
2-) Expected Setup:
- Orion Server : HP BL460C Server : 1 Quadcore 2.8 GHz CPU - 12 GB RAM - 2 x 15K RPM DIsks RAID1. Win 2003 Standard Ed. 32-bit with /PAE . it will monitor All these modules (NPM+NTA+NCM+IP SLA Mgr + IP Addr Mgr + LANsurveyor + APM). APM for less than 10 Servers, few metrics.
Monitoring: 5,000 elements = 2,000 Dev + 2,700 interfaces , Max 25 Netflow interfaces - IP SLA 270 Dev.
ICMP Polling = 1min , SNMP statistics = 5 min, Max polling , Max Status Poll Per Sec = 100
- SQL Server: HP BL460C Server : 2 x Quadcore 2.8 GHz CPU - 12 GB RAM. FC SAN stoarge with mutiple LUs (O/S, SWAP, SQL program files, Orion DB files, Orion DB log files seperated for better performance).
Can we go for such setup or do you see some weakness in terms of Write I/O ?
Tahnk you
We don't have a special tool. We've just been measuring using the native performance counters, and unfortunately, I can't just look at those stats and tell you how you'll perform.
Thank you all.
In fact, it's not that evident to predict how it would perform
