Is it possible to separate the NPM and NTA Database

I am assuming you have seen this FAQ already

SolarWinds Knowledge Base :: NTA 4.x Installation: Frequently Asked Questions

3 servers is definitely recommended. It is possible to get away with 2. The FAQ also covers migration questions.

I am also assuming you are still running NTA v3.11 or older.  Just ensure that your virtually shiny servers are all 64 bit Windows.

I have had a quick look through yes, thanks. I think we are going ahead with the 3 anyway, so that's good.

I haven't set up NTA before and was wondering how it is set up. There seemed to be loads of instances of NTA stuff within the current NPM SQL database files that we have. It looked as if they were just one big database (NPM & NTA), but i'm reading that NTA doesn't require SQL, so this can't be true?

I want to make sure the migration is as smooth as possible and have been told that we can use separate servers if we require them (hooray). Our current set up and the new set up will be slightly different, so this is what I wanted to clarify. Instead of using NTA on the same server as the current SQL server, I want to give it its own server and wanted to make sure this wouldn't be a problem when migrating.

Thanks for your reply.

NTA still requires SQL, but all the flow records will be stored in the proprietary FSDB (Flow Storage DB). As mentioned in the FAQ, the upgrade will migrate the data from the SQL database to FSDB. After you upgrade, it will significantly reduce the demands on the SQL database in terms of RAM and storage size.

Also, check out the product upgrade advisor tool in your customer portal. It will advise the necessary hops (if any) to get to the latest version from your current version

This part of the FAQ confused me:

Q: Do I need SQL installed on the machine that the NTA Flow Storage Database will be installed on?

No, NTA Flow Storage Database is not a SQL DB.

So that is saying that NTA will be using the SQL database of NPM, but will be storing the flow records on the separate server as you said? So SQL is not actually required on the separate NTA server?

So installing NTA on the separate server, shouldn't be a problem to my current set up, as it's only storing the flow records across no the SQL stuff, is that right?

Sorry if i'm being a noob, just want to make sure I get this.

Thanks for your help.

Right. So, it's saying, FSDB doesn't require any MS SQL licenses/installation as FSDB is a proprietary database.

And, yes, installing FSDB on a separate server than the NPM/NTA server or the SQL database is the best practice.

From a communication standpoint, FSDB will talk to the SQL server and NPM/NTA server.  NTA collector will take care of storing the flow records in the FSDB, and other information like IP groups, etc in the SQL server.

Great ok. So I shouldn't have any problems migrating and shouldn't need to 'separate' anything as I first assumed (from an SQL point of view). It's just that the FSDB gets moved to a different server which then takes care of the flow records, ultimately freeing up resources on the other servers. Think i've got it?

Thanks man, appreciate your help.

Yup, you did.

Phew! Good good, thanks again