Module 2
Preparing Systems for
SQL Server 2008 R2
Module Overview
• Overview of SQL Server Architecture
• Planning Server Resource Requirements
• Pre-installation Testing for SQL Server
Lesson 1: Overview of SQL Server Architecture
• SQL Server Architecture
• CPU Usage by SQL Server
• Parallelism
• 32 bit vs. 64 bit Servers
• Overview of SQL Server Memory
• Physical vs. Logical I/O
• Demonstration 1A: CPU and Memory Configurations in
SSMS
SQL Server Architecture
Users
• Query Execution Layer

Parses and optimizes the
queries, and manages the
caching and execution of query
execution plans
Configuration
• Storage Engine Layer
Query Execution

Manages buffer pages, I/O to
the physical files, locking, and
transactions
• SQL OS Layer
Storage Engine
SQL OS

Provides an abstraction layer
over common OS functions,
providing task and memory
management
CPU Usage by SQL Server
• Windows uses preemptive scheduling of threads
• One scheduler for every logical CPU created in SQL OS

Manages the threads retrieved from Windows and assigns
tasks to threads

Minimizes context switches through cooperative scheduling
• CPU availability can be configured without restart

Schedulers can be enabled or disabled

CPU affinity mask can be set
• Tasks waiting on a resource are moved to a waiting list

Wait type and time are recorded

Details are useful for monitoring and troubleshooting
Parallelism
Parallelism refers to multiple processors cooperating to execute
a single query at the same time.
• SQL Server can decide to distribute queries to more than
one task

Tasks can run in parallel

Overall execution is faster

Synchronization overhead is incurred

Parallelism is only considered for expensive plans
• Max degree of parallelism defines how many CPUs can
be used for execution of a parallel query

Can be overridden using the MAXDOP query hint
• Cost threshold for parallelism defines minimal cost for
considering parallel plans
32 bit vs. 64 bit Servers
• Virtual Address Space is the memory that can be allocated
to applications such as SQL Server

4GB on 32 bit systems (2-3GB available for the application)

8TB on X64 systems and 7TB on IA64 systems

4GB for 32 bit applications running on WOW on 64bit OS
• AWE extension can be used to access additional memory
on 32bit systems

Additional memory can only be used for data page caching
• SQL Server performance strongly depends on memory

Installing 64 bit versions is preferred

64 bit options available for all editions of SQL Server
Overview of SQL Server Memory
• Buffer Pool is the main memory object of SQL Server

Holds data cache

Provides memory for other SQL Server components

Is divided into 8K pages
• Components can request memory from VAS directly

Occurs when more than 8KB of continuous memory is required
• SQL OS automatically allocates as much memory as needed

Has a mechanism to prevent memory shortage on the system

Can be configured using min and max server memory options
Physical vs. Logical I/O
I/O Type
Description
Physical I/O
Physical I/O occurs when the requested page
is not available in Buffer Cache and must be
read from the data file into the Buffer Cache
before the requested page can be supplied or
when a changed page is written to the data
file
Logical I/O
Logical I/O occurs when the requested page
is available in the Buffer Cache
Demonstration 1A: CPU and Memory Configurations
in SSMS
• In this demonstration, you will see:

How to configure SQL Server CPU and Memory using SSMS

How to review configuration options using T-SQL
Lesson 2: Planning Server Resource Requirements
• Introduction to Planning Server Resource Requirements
• Discussion: Previous Exposure to Resource Planning
• Planning CPU Requirements
• Planning Memory Requirements
• Planning Network Requirements
• Planning Storage and I/O Requirements
Introduction to Planning Server Resource Requirements
• No easy formula for calculating resource requirements exists
• Planning involves

Checking with ISV or developers
•
Ask for reference installations and case studies
•
Request details of previous experiences with the application

Performing tests with real live workloads

Setting goals and evaluating results against them

Planning and predicting further grow of the workload and database
• Monitor the outcome after release into production
Discussion: Previous Exposure to Resource Planning
• Resource Planning is an important part of new
installations

What is your previous experience with planning of new
systems?

How successful was the planning?
Planning CPU Requirements
• Processor planning is relatively straightforward
• Test on a typical workload and monitor CPU usage

CPU should be below 30 percent in average

Peaks can occur but should not last too long
• More processors provide better parallelism options

Assists with large numbers of concurrent connections

Assists with high data warehouse loads
• Dedicated database server should use all available CPUs
• Many new systems use NUMA architecture

Check with hardware vendor for optimal SQL Server configuration
Planning Memory Requirements
• SQL Server is highly dependent on memory

Caches help to reduce I/O and CPU
•
Data cache reduces I/O
•
Plan cache reduces the need for recompiling queries

Memory to store and process data is required during query
execution

Memory shortage can lead to CPU and I/O pressure
• Plan to have enough memory

Able to cache frequently accessed data

Consider memory consumption of other services running on
the system
Planning Network Requirements
• Plan and test the throughput needed for the application

Consider using several network adapters
• Consider dedicating a network connection to administrative
purposes

Writing Backups to network devices

Transferring data to other instances using SSIS
• Use a dedicated network connection when using database
mirroring
• Choose and configure the network protocols used

Check firewall configurations

Test in a network environment similar to the target production system
Planning Storage and I/O Requirements
• I/O requirements need to be determined and tested
• Considerations for storage

Dedicated vs. SAN based storage

RAID systems used

Number of spindles involved (often more important than disk
size)

I/O caching configuration (disk and write caching)
Lesson 3: Pre-installation Testing for SQL Server
• Overview of Pre-installation Testing
• Perform Pre-checks of I/O subsystems
• Introducing SQLIOSIM
• Introducing SQLIO
• Demonstration 3A: Using SQLIOSIM & SQLIO
Overview of Pre-installation Testing
• Planning and testing is strongly coupled
• After the first planning phase tests must be performed

Check if the predictions made are met

Change the predictions based on the results

Check if the goals set in the planning phase are fulfilled
• Test different configurations involving

Storage and I/O layout

Memory, CPU and Network configurations
• Document every test run for later use
Perform Pre-checks of I/O subsystems
• Test different I/O types and sizes

Small random reads and write on data files for OLTP systems

Larger sequential reads and writes for OLAP systems

Sequential writes for log storage
• Test with different numbers of files involved

Use test files that are similar to your target configuration
• Determine the saturation point of an I/O subsystem by gradually
increasing the load
• Validate results against expected outcome

Based on the goals you set

Checked against the potential I/O capabilities of the system
Introducing SQLIOSIM
• Unsupported tool provided by Microsoft to test the functional
correctness of storage systems.
• Can be run through command line and and GUI
Introducing SQLIO
• Unsupported tool provided by Microsoft to test the performance
of storage systems.
• Command line tool that can be configured to specific I/O Pattern
Demonstration 3A: Using SQLIOSIM & SQLIO
• In this demonstration, you will see how to:

Configure SQLIOSim to stress test a server

Test different I/O patterns using the SQLIO utility
Lab 2: Preparing Systems for SQL Server
• Exercise 1: Adjust memory configuration
• Exercise 2: Perform Pre-installation Stress Testing
• Challenge Exercise 3: Check Specific I/O Operations (Only
if time permits)
Logon information
Virtual machine
623XB-MIA-SQL
User name
AdventureWorks\Administrator
Password
Pa$$w0rd
Estimated time: 45 minutes
Lab Scenario
You have reviewed the additional instance of SQL Server. A
system administrator at AdventureWorks has expressed
some concerns that the existing server may not have
enough memory or I/O capacity to support this new SQL
Server instance and is reviewing a new I/O subsystem. As
the database administrator, you need to review the
available server memory and the memory allocated to each
of the existing SQL Server instances. You need to ensure
that the I/O subsystem of the new server is capable of
running SQL Server and the required workload correctly.
Lab Review
• Why is running SQLIOSim on the VM difficult?
• Should you use SQLIOSIM or SQLIO to test the
performance of a system with 8KB random reads?
Module Review and Takeaways
• Review Questions
• Best Practices