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Should be keep OS and Database storage on the same disk for NTA4.0 or On the separate disk.

As per recomendation we need to do RAID 1+0 for NTA4.0 Database so can we put OS and Database on same disk or we need separate disk.

and how can we install database first in DBS before we start updating NTA4.0.

Thanks in Advance.

  • As per recomendation we need to do RAID 1+0 for NTA4.0 Database so can we put OS and Database on same disk or we need separate disk.

    Ideally any data store should be hosted on a separate set of disks from the operating system.

    However, if you only have four spindles available and the choices are:

    • RAID 10 - four spindles with OS and flow storage database
    • 2 sets of RAID 1 - two spindles for OS and two spindles for flow storage database

    You may find that the RAID 1 mirror for the OS becomes underutilized, and the RAID 1 mirror for the flow storage database becomes write-constrained. The reason for this is that with a 2-spindle RAID 1 array, you're writing 100% of the stored data to both spindles simultaneously. With a 4-spindle RAID10 array, you're only writing half of the stored data to each pair of spindles. Ergo, while the principle is to separate the datastore, if you're limited in the number of spindles available, you may find you'll get better overall performance by using a single RAID 10 four-spindle array for both. At a minimum, though, you should configure two logical volumes, and separate the OS and flow storage database by volume.

    The ideal solution would be to have six spindles: A 2-spindle RAID 1 array for the OS and a 4-spindle RAID 10 array for the flow storage database.

    and how can we install database first in DBS before we start updating NTA4.0.


    Per the NTA 4.0 deployment guidance in the Administrator Guide:

    • If you're installing NTA4.0 and the flow storage database on the same system, you'll run the installer once on that system and it will walk you through the process.
    • If you're installing NTA4.0 and the flow storage database on separate servers (recommended!), you need to first install the flow storage database, and then install NTA4.0 (and it will prompt you for the location of the flow storage database).


    We also discussed this installation/upgrade procedure in SolarWinds Lab Episode #9 which can be viewed at Flow Storage NTA Takes Network Traffic Monitoring to 11

    If you are upgrading from an existing instance of NTA3, you will first upgrade that instance to NTA4.0 and then install the flow storage database on the desired server.


    Note also that using the flow storage database requires both NTA4.0 and the flow storage database to be installed to a 64-bit instance of Windows, e.g. Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2012 R2.


    I would encourage you to review Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of the Administrator Guide before launching the installation/upgrade.