July 23, 2012 at 2:38 pm
I'm building a dev server for our team and the drives are currently configured as follows:
One 240GB SSD (Use it for the OS only?)
One 220 GB SSD RAID 10 (from 4 SSDs) (Use it for SQL Binaries AND TempDB and Log files?)
One 1.1 TB 15K RAID 10 (from 4 15k drives) (Use it for Data files only?)
For a dev environment, would this setup be sufficient? Or should I break apart the RAID 10s into smaller RAID configs?
Also, with SSDs involved, is there any problem setting the block size to 64KB for all three drives? Then configuring partition alignment, accordingly?
July 24, 2012 at 12:43 am
check this out :
July 24, 2012 at 3:36 am
sixthzenz (7/23/2012)
I'm building a dev server for our team and the drives are currently configured as follows:One 240GB SSD (Use it for the OS only?)
One 220 GB SSD RAID 10 (from 4 SSDs) (Use it for SQL Binaries AND TempDB and Log files?)
One 1.1 TB 15K RAID 10 (from 4 15k drives) (Use it for Data files only?)
For a dev environment, would this setup be sufficient? Or should I break apart the RAID 10s into smaller RAID configs?
Also, with SSDs involved, is there any problem setting the block size to 64KB for all three drives? Then configuring partition alignment, accordingly?
In my opinion it wont make a blind bit of difference. The SSD capabilities will mask any performance you may think you'll gain. Flash memory access in measured in the order of nanoseconds compared to spinning platters which are measured in milliseconds. (there are 1000 nanoseconds in 1 millisecond 😉 )
farax_x (7/24/2012)
check this out :
That link is not really valid for SSDs or SQL Server 2012
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
July 24, 2012 at 8:43 am
Good point(s). The reason I asked these questions is because I've heard people talk about having to do certain tweaks/configs when using SSDs. So are you implying I won't gain any performance by using the SSDs?
July 24, 2012 at 9:46 am
sixthzenz (7/24/2012)
Good point(s). The reason I asked these questions is because I've heard people talk about having to do certain tweaks/configs when using SSDs. So are you implying I won't gain any performance by using the SSDs?
you're misunderstanding what i am saying.
Flash memory is measured in time intervals faster than disk access. Performance should be flying.
As for separating data and logs out to separate disks, this would likely be pointless as you won't have the performance contention you have with platters. You could separate them for management purposes i suppose. Remember with disks, the heads have to move for read write operations, for SSDs it just reads a value from a flash cell, no spinning platter and no arm movement.
To this same end disk alignment is pointless to. There are no sectors as such, just individual flash cells that record data values.
What tweeks\configs are you referring to?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
July 25, 2012 at 9:30 am
Gotcha. Thanks for spelling it out for me lol. I understand your comment about not having to be concerned about alignment and performance when using SSDs to house all sys and user data and log files, but unless I turn my 4 SSDs into two RAID 0s (from one RAID 10), I'm going to run out of space fairly quick as our application generates and stores a large amount of data in a short amount of time. So since I have a 1TB partition (4 15K - RAID 10) to use, as well, what sys or user db files could or should exist on this parition w/out compromising performance?
Regarding tweaks/config options during install, I'm basically just referring to the placement of any sys or user db files, partition alignment, partition block size, etc, between each of three partitions. I read a lot about installing the SQL Server binaries on a separate drive from the OS. Is that still necessary or can I install the SQL Server binaries on the same partition (which is a single SSD) on which the OS is installed? Or can I use the 15K RAID 10?
I was going to make the block size 64K for all partitions, but didn't know if the SSDs needs something else due to how fast they are. That is, is there any reason to not make the block sizes on the SSDs 64K?
July 27, 2012 at 12:03 am
sixthzenz (7/25/2012)
So since I have a 1TB partition (4 15K - RAID 10) to use,
Is this a spinning platter array (I.e, physical hard drives)?
sixthzenz (7/25/2012)
I read a lot about installing the SQL Server binaries on a separate drive from the OS. Is that still necessary or can I install the SQL Server binaries on the same partition (which is a single SSD) on which the OS is installed? Or can I use the 15K RAID 10?
It's an ideal more than anything, store them on the OS will be fine.
sixthzenz (7/25/2012)
I was going to make the block size 64K for all partitions, but didn't know if the SSDs needs something else due to how fast they are. That is, is there any reason to not make the block sizes on the SSDs 64K?
You're reading too much into it. Remember we're talikng about flash cells here and not disk sectors. When you format a 256gb SSD for example you don't get 256gb or anything near it. The drive controller reserves a percentage of the flash to cope with dead cells. With an SSD your data can be written literally anywhere, does that make sense?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply