Domain Server and SQL

[Pacific Blue IT]

Whats the best solution for a single Domain server and software that requires SQL?

Im putting in the following RAID config

2 in RAID 0 for OS & programs and 4 drives RAID 10 for storage

Should I change the RAID 0 from SAS to Enterprise SSD's would this negate the SQL from being a resource hog?

The SQL software to be used is BarTender software by Seagull Scientific will it have a big impact on this system?

What is recommended hardware wise if I built a server or Workstation just for the BarTender software?

The setup Im offering the client has the following specs:


CPU

2/2Intel® Xeon® E5-2603 v3 1.6GHz Hexa Core or 2/2 E5-2650 2650 v3 2.3GHz (Supports 2133 RAM )


Motherboard

1. Dual socket R3 (LGA 2011) supports
Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600 v3
family; QPI up to 9.6GT/s

2. Intel® C612 chipset

3. Up to 1TB ECC DDR4 2133MHz;
16x DIMM slots

4. 1x PCI-E 3.0 x16, 6x PCI-E 3.0 x8 slots

5. Intel® i350 Dual port GbE LAN

6. 10x SATA3 (6Gbps) ports w/ Intel
C612 controller; RAID 0, 1, 5, 10

7. 8x SAS3 (12Gbps) ports w/ LSI 3108
controller (2GB cache); RAID 0, 1, 5,
6, 10, 50, 60

8. Integrated IPMI 2.0 and KVM with
Dedicated LAN

9. 5x USB 3.0 and 4x USB 2.0 ports


Memory

16GB RECC 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)


Memory Capacity

24 x 240-pin DDR4 DIMM sockets

Supports up to 1.5TB DDR4 2166MHz ECC LRDIMM


Memory Voltage

1.2 V


Chipset

Intel® C612


HDD

6 x 300GB SAS 15K RPM Hotswap (8 HDD Max) 2 in RAID 0 for OS & programs and 4 drives RAID 10 for storage


Drive bays

8 x 3.5" Hotswap SAS/SATA Drive Bays + 2x 5.25 + 1x 5.25" bay that fits 3.5" bay devices


HDD Controller

SATA3 (6Gbps) and SATA2 (3Gbps)s Controller


SATA / SAS ports

SATA 3.0 6/Gbps with RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 & SATA 2.0 3/GBps with RAID 0, 1, 5, 10

SAS3 12GB/s HW RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60 support via LSI 3108

2GB Cache via SuperCap backup module


Network Controllers

Dual Intel® i350 GbE Controller


LAN

2x RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports + 1 x Dedicated IPMI LAN Port

.

Graphics

Aspeed AST2400 BMC graphics controller


USB

4x USB 2.0 ports (2 rear + 2 via header)


Expansion capability

1x PCI-E 3.0 x16

6x PCI-E 3.0 x8


Video

1x VGA


Serial Port/Header

2 Fast UART 16550 ports: 1 rear and 1 header


DOM

2x DOM (Disk on Module) ports


Other

1 TPM 1.2 20-pin Header


Server Management

Intel® Node Manager 3.0

IPMI 2.0

SPM

SUM

SuperDoctor® 5

Watch Dog

NMI


Chassis Form Factor

Pedestal


Power Supply

1+1 920W Redundant High-effciency 80+ Platinum Power Supply with PMBus and I2C

 

[Pacific Blue IT]

Possible to run the SQL program of a windows VM on the server? or would it still have the same impact?

 

[Pacific Blue IT]

@YeOldeStonecat and other server gurus thanks for any recomendations in advance

 

[freedomit]

Is the server going to be a Domain Controller? I.e have active directory roles?

Is the SQL going to be a full version or SQL Express?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

You don't want a server doing RAID 0....ever. For servers you want redundancy...and that is RAID 1 or higher. Mirroring.
RAID 0 is striping. If 1 disk fails..that server is dead in the water, flat on its face.

How large is the network? How many users?
Bartender software...I'm guessing it's just SQL Express. I wouldn't worry about resource starvation.
Even standard SQL on a server....if the database is under 100 gigs...and under 100 users, I've seen full SQL Server run fine on a Small Business Server along with Exchange...as long as you have it on fast server grade disks. I always install the SQL database/log locations on the second drive volume, typically the RAID 10.
When SQL grows...gets HUGE, you want to split the database files from the log files...have them on separate spindles. So like...you'll have OS on the C drive, MDF on the E drive, and the LDF on an F drive.

It is against best practice to install SQL on a domain controller. Even though Microsoft went against that rule back in the Small Business Server Premium days (it also had Exchange too!). If you're running SQL Express...no big deal. Full blown SQL Server...you'll get the warnings for the install, but there are work arounds.

As for a VM....so if you get Server 2012 Standard, you're licensed to install a Hyper-V host, and then 2x guests...from that license. So you have install a DC and then install a second server instance as a domain member, specifically for the SQL Server. This gets you away from the "don't install full SQL on a DC" thing. Resource wise...since it's sharing the same hardware, same RAID volumes...yea you share it, it's not as fast as a second bare metal server. But I'd double the RAM, give it 32 even 64 gigs (dunno how large this network is or how large the database will be)

 

[Pacific Blue IT]

Thanks guys, Server will be DC with AD roles but only on a small network, 10 users max, Thanks for your info re Bartender Yeoldstonecat, it's actually just the licensing server and just using SQL Express so should be minimal to no performance issues.
Correct, I actually did recommend RAID 1 and 10 to client not RAID 0 my mistake, I actually used your advise on that setup from another thread.
Could either of you make a recommendation on which CPU/RAM/HDD setup would suit this client best, they are a printing company and so will be accessing large picture files mainly as well as bosses want to remote in with TS.

 

[TurricanII]

First of all are you building the server yourself? If the server is quite critical such as DC/SQL/File server then I would personally prefer to supply a 'proper' server, e.g. Dell/HP/Supermicro. These servers are designed and built for reliability and there is then one phone number to use if any component fails. Trying to keep track of warranties and 'who to call' if a custom built server fails is not something I would want to leave a client with.

6 x 300GB SAS 15K RPM Hotswap (8 HDD Max) 2 in RAID 0 for OS & programs and 4 drives RAID 10 for storage means that from the outset your data drive will be 600Gb and at most you can grow it to 900Gb usable space with six drives. A printing company typically deals with MASSIVE files. Is 600Gb usable space going to be sufficient, or do they have another storage server? I might be inclined to start with four 600Gb SAS in RAID 10 giving 1.2Tb usable. RAID 10 goes faster with more spindles. For Hyper-V with two VM's I would also want to start with six drives if at all possible in RAID 10, even if the storage is not immediately needed, because it should perform faster.

I would not dedicate two drives for an OS mirror - I would use all drives in one big RAID10 and then create a logical OS drive in the RAID controller for maximum flexibility. You might otherwise be wasting space on the OS partition or wasting capacity for storage because you may put smaller drives in the first two slots.

I would use HyperV as noted by YeOldeStonecat so you get two distinct Windows server VM's - but I would leave the SQL Express on the first DC VM and use the second one for the RDS server. SQL Express is limited to 1Gb RAM and 10Gb database size anyway - bear that in mind.

I would start with 24Gb or 32Gb RAM if they want RDS. You'll want to assign up to 4Gb for Hyper-V don't forget.

If you do opt to create e.g. a 150Gb logical OS drive for the Hyper-V OS then don't forget to create/format the logical data drive as GPT otherwise you will not be able to use any space beyond 2Tb.

Think about block size when creating the array/formatting the NTFS drive in Hyper-V and then formatting the VHDX in the VM - 64k is supposed to be best for performance for VHDX's.

Use a hard drive speed test tool at each stage on Hyper-V and within the VM to make sure disk speed is as you would expect.

How are you going to back it up?

How about a UPS to protect against surges and cuts?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I agree with sticking to Tier-1 brands....we do HP for mid to higher end, Dell for low to mid, and I'd consider Lenovo for low to mid...as we're phasing out Dell, and we do lots of Lenovo Thinkpads and ThinkCentres.

Anyways..that's a whole 'nother thread and debate.

For Hyper-V...I'm strong towards performance, I always do a mid to larger size RAID 1 for Hyper-V OS and the C drives of some guests, and then do a large RAID 10 for the data drives of the guests. Just like my bare metal installs...I'm a big fan of multiple volumes/spindles..separate that C drive and E/F/etc drives to separate spindles. Never share the same RAID volume. Multiple spindles have far superior concurrent hit performance.

You mention that they want to "remote" in to? His workstation? If the max users will be "10"...Server 2012 R2 Essentials would be a good fit, and it comes with that Remote portal which clients love..they can remote into their workstation via the RDP proxy, or remote into a Windows explorer like interface to access files on the servers company share. This is a "role" on the Essentials server (you can install it on Server Standard also)...but it's built in on Essentials with the licensing.

BarTender software...and large file storage for printing? Odd combo.
Couple of ways to go here. Might consider keeping the servers drives smaller...for folder redirection and storage of the SQL and perhaps accounting apps. And then have a NAS like a Synology next to it..for the large file storage. Keeps backup/disaster recovery pricing down...as you can just use cheap offsite backup for the Synology. Honestly for a server this small I'd just do RAID 1 / RAID 1