Server Sizing

I'm planning to run Store Ops and HQ on one machine. My server is a P4

2.8GHz with 1GB RAM and mirrored 70GB drives (60GB free). The non-RMS workload is minimal--no printer sharing and very little file server traffic. It doesn't handle DHCP and we don't use AD.

The Store Ops demands are also fairly light. An extemely heavy day would be

50 transactions. The HQ server will have to manage data from four stores, all similarly sized. My inventory DB contains about 2,500 SKUs, most of which overlap at all stores. I anticipate an HQ inventory DB of 6-7000 SKUs, though I can imagine a day when that number might approach 10K.

My customer DB is small, since we only imported customers with current balances. Eventually, it wouldn't be a stretch to have close to 10K customers per location. I believe that we want to use global customers everywhere, so the HQ customer DB could be fairly large.

Do I have enough CPU/RAM/Storage in my existing server? Going to a dual CPU would likely mean a new box. My system will support faster CPUs (how fast? I'm not sure. 3.2Ghz+, I think). I can go up to 4GB RAM if necessary, 3GB without discarding the 2x512MB DIMMs I already have installed. I do have room for additional hard drives if necessary, though I suspect that disk space is the least of my concerns.

Recommendations?

Tom

Reply to
Terrible Tom
Loading thread data ...

TT,

You didn't mention what OS or version of SQL you will be using. RMS is only supported on SQL 2000, not 2005.

If XP, this looks a little lite on RAM, 2 gig minimum, 4 gig with SBS or Server 2000/2003.

More than a 4 stores may require the Workgroup edition of SQL. 4 gig minimum there too. Remember that MSDE only supports 2 gig max size for the database, Workgroup or Standard are unlimited. (Standard requires Server

2000/2003)
Reply to
Jeff

I'm running Server 2003 and MSDE right now. My three-month old Store Ops DB is a whopping 27MB, so I'm a long ways from the 2GB MSDE limitation.

In the end, if I read your advice correctly, I'm going to need more than MSDE and 4GB RAM to keep things running smoothly.

Thanks, Tom

"Jeff" wrote:

Reply to
Terrible Tom

TT,

There are a lot of variables. Its kinda hard to give you an answer with limited knowledge about your operation. Are you storing receipts from all stores in HQ, how many times you are communicating with your stores, how many users per store, how many in HQ, what else is the server doing, etc.

In general, yes, at some point in time, you will have to update your database from MSDE to SQL Server 2000 Standard. When you do, upgrade your RAM too.

MSDE will use up to 2 gig of RAM, so that plus whatever is required for the rest of the server uses.

Look at it again in 6 months and see if what you have continues to work, if not add more RAM.

Reply to
Jeff

BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.