Monitoring/ tuning tool for sql server and os environment

What is a good tool for monitoring/tuning OS and SQL layers.

OS and SQL are different things, and I am not sure what you mean under layers.
To further expand my question, what OS build, what SQL Server edition?
All these have enormous impact on strategy.
Then the question is for what? OLTP need one tuning, DW another.
Monitoring is also a question of budget, how much allowed to spend?
Secondly, this forum is not dedicated to these kinds of questions.
Arthur My Blog

Similar Messages

Versioning Tool for SQL Server?

Problem:
Does Microsoft have a versioning tool for SQL server?
I'm thinking about similiar tool as visual studio team foundation but for SQL server?
WOuld like to see any changes in a stored procedure in different version.

Additionally you can also refer below article.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bahill/archive/2009/07/31/come-visit-revisit-the-beer-house-continuous-integration.aspx
Please mark solved if I've answered your question, vote for it as helpful to help other users find a solution quicker
Praveen Dsa | MCITP - Database Administrator 2008 |
My Blog | My Page

Database independant ETL in ODI for SQL Server and Oracle

Hi,
We have a requirement to create ETL which can be run for both SQL Server and Oracle.
We have some tables to be filled from operational database to data warehouse using business requirement.Our goal is to create code which should be database independant.
We will provide all DB details at the start of execution and it will code for as per provided details.
The same can be achieved by Talend.
I wanted to know if same can be achieved in ODI.
Any pointers regarding this would be helpful.
Thanks,
Mahesh

A quick trick: Provide one more value at the start of execution. It is something like a flag. For example db_flag. It can be either 'O' or 'S'.
Open both oracle and sql server KM. Copy one of the KM code to other KM and put an if condition to check the flag.
if (#DB_FLAG.equalsTo("O")){
Oracle code goes here...........
}else{
SQL Server code goes here...........
Its a pure KM customization.
Bhabani
http://dwteam.in

Is there any monitoring tool for web server and application server ?

experts,
I just want to know that is there any monitoring utility which being used to monitor the web server activities like threads web console session tracking and so on..
I am using Jboss as my application server.If you suggest any monitoring tool for Jboss It would be helpful for me,

You may use jConsole

Error during DatabaseCopy using SAP tools for SQL Server (v7.12)

I'm trying to perform a system copy from PRD to QAS. The database has been mounted to QAS via detach and attach method. I did a DBCC on the database and everything looks OK. I'm running SAPINST (SAP Tools for MSSQL) and selecting the Database Copy option. The source database has a schema of DBO. Both PRD and QAS are running SAP 4.7/Basis 620. The target schema is QAS. SAPINST fails in step 2 (Define Params) with:
"This service cannot be used for a system with SAP ABAP release 620"
Is this message misleading? Has anyone receive this message before.
UPDATE:
I donwloaded the latest version of SAP Tools for MSSQL and now it failes during the execution phase on step, "Convert DB objects to new schema".
Here is the log:
Process environment
===================
Environment Variables
=====================
=::=::\
=C:=C:\Program Files\sapinst_instdir\MSS\CPY
ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
APPDATA=C:\Documents and Settings\r3tadm.STAG\Application Data
CLIENTNAME=TRAIMONOTEBOOK
ClusterLog=C:\WINDOWS\Cluster\cluster.log
CommonProgramFiles=C:\Program Files\Common Files
COMPUTERNAME=STAG
ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
DBMS_TYPE=MSS
FP_NO_HOST_CHECK=NO
HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH=\Documents and Settings\r3tadm.STAG
LOGONSERVER=
STAG
MSSQL_DBNAME=R3T
MSSQL_SERVER=stag
NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS=4
OS=Windows_NT
Path=C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\Dell\SysMgt\RAC5;C:\Program Files\Dell\SysMgt\oma\bin;C:\Program Files\Dell\SysMgt\oma\oldiags\bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\80\Tools\BINN;C:\usr\sap\R3T\SYS\exe\run
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=x86
PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6, GenuineIntel
PROCESSOR_LEVEL=6
PROCESSOR_REVISION=0f06
ProgramFiles=C:\Program Files
SAPINST_EXEDIR_CD=C:/STM/I386
SAPINST_JRE_HOME=C:/WINDOWS/TEMP/3/sapinst_exe.3012.1234409473/jre
SAPLOCALHOST=stag
SESSIONNAME=RDP-Tcp#25
SystemDrive=C:
SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS
TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\3
TMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\3
USERDOMAIN=STAG
USERNAME=r3tadm
USERPROFILE=C:\Documents and Settings\r3tadm.STAG
windir=C:\WINDOWS
User: STAG\r3tadm, Id: S-1-5-21-2727398557-1322528747-1943968026-1019
Working directory: C:/Program Files/sapinst_instdir/MSS/CPY
Current access token
====================
Could not get thread token. Last error: 1008. I assume that no thread token exists.
Got process token.
Privileges:
Privilege SeBackupPrivilege, display name: Back up files and directories, not enabled.
Privilege SeRestorePrivilege, display name: Restore files and directories, not enabled.
Privilege SeShutdownPrivilege, display name: Shut down the system, not enabled.
Privilege SeDebugPrivilege, display name: Debug programs, not enabled.
Privilege SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege, display name: Replace a process level token, not enabled.
Privilege SeSystemEnvironmentPrivilege, display name: Modify firmware environment values, not enabled.
Privilege SeIncreaseQuotaPrivilege, display name: Adjust memory quotas for a process, not enabled.
Privilege SeChangeNotifyPrivilege, display name: Bypass traverse checking, enabled.
Privilege SeRemoteShutdownPrivilege, display name: Force shutdown from a remote system, not enabled.
Privilege SeTcbPrivilege, display name: Act as part of the operating system, not enabled.
Privilege SeUndockPrivilege, display name: Remove computer from docking station, not enabled.
Privilege SeSecurityPrivilege, display name: Manage auditing and security log, not enabled.
Privilege SeTakeOwnershipPrivilege, display name: Take ownership of files or other objects, not enabled.
Privilege SeLoadDriverPrivilege, display name: Load and unload device drivers, not enabled.
Privilege SeManageVolumePrivilege, display name: Perform volume maintenance tasks, not enabled.
Privilege SeSystemProfilePrivilege, display name: Profile system performance, not enabled.
Privilege SeImpersonatePrivilege, display name: Impersonate a client after authentication, enabled.
Privilege SeSystemtimePrivilege, display name: Change the system time, not enabled.
Privilege SeCreateGlobalPrivilege, display name: Create global objects, enabled.
Privilege SeProfileSingleProcessPrivilege, display name: Profile single process, not enabled.
Privilege SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege, display name: Increase scheduling priority, not enabled.
Privilege SeCreatePagefilePrivilege, display name: Create a pagefile, not enabled.
Groups:
Group count: 14
\LOCAL S-1-2-0 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
BUILTIN\Administrators S-1-5-32-544 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED SE_GROUP_OWNER
\Everyone S-1-1-0 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
BUILTIN\Users S-1-5-32-545 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
STAG\SAP_R3T_LocalAdmin S-1-5-21-2727398557-1322528747-1943968026-1021 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
STAG\SAP_LocalAdmin S-1-5-21-2727398557-1322528747-1943968026-1023 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
STAG\None S-1-5-21-2727398557-1322528747-1943968026-513 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE S-1-5-4 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
NT AUTHORITY\NTLM Authentication S-1-5-64-10 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users S-1-5-11 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
\ S-1-5-5-0-36828865 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED SE_GROUP_LOGON_ID
NT AUTHORITY\REMOTE INTERACTIVE LOGON S-1-5-14 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
NT AUTHORITY\This Organization S-1-5-15 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
STAG\SAP_R3T_GlobalAdmin S-1-5-21-2727398557-1322528747-1943968026-1018 Attributes: SE_GROUP_MANDATORY SE_GROUP_ENABLED_BY_DEFAULT SE_GROUP_ENABLED
ERROR 2009-02-11 19:31:46.529 [sixxcstepexecute.cpp:984]
FCO-00011 The step MoveSchema with step key |SAPMSSTOOLS|ind|ind|ind|ind|0|0|MssSysCopy|ind|ind|ind|ind|4|0|MssSchemaMove|ind|ind|ind|ind|2|0|MoveSchema was executed with status ERROR .
TRACE 2009-02-11 19:31:46.544
Call block:CallBackInCaseOfAnErrorDuringStepExecution
 function:CallTheLogInquirer
is validator: true
WARNING 2009-02-11 19:31:46.544 [iaxxejshlp.cpp:150]
Could not get property IDs of the JavaScript object.
ERROR 2009-02-11 19:31:46.544 [iaxxejsctl.cpp:492]
FJS-00010 Could not get value for property .
TRACE 2009-02-11 19:31:46.544
A problem occurs during execution the inquirer callback. SAPinst will switch back to the standard behaiviour.
TRACE 2009-02-11 19:31:46.544 [iaxxgenimp.cpp:707]
 CGuiEngineImp::showMessageBox
<html> <head> </head> <body> An error occurred while processing service SAP Toools for MS SQL Server > Database Copy. You may now <ul> <li> choose Retry to repeat the current step. </li> <li> choose View Log to get more information about the error. </li> <li> stop the task and continue with it later. </li> </ul> Log files are written to C:\Program Files/sapinst_instdir/MSS/CPY. </body></html>
TRACE 2009-02-11 19:31:46.544 [iaxxgenimp.cpp:1245]
 CGuiEngineImp::acceptAnswerForBlockingRequest
Waiting for an answer from GUI
Edited by: Tony Raimo on Feb 12, 2009 4:37 AM

This is looks like permission issue on source folder
Copy source in to your local drive and try again.
I had same issue and able to resolve after copy EXP1 EXP2 and EXP3 folder in to local drive C: with Everyone full access
Yogesh

SAP Tools for SQL Server issue

Hi,
I used SAP tools to upgrade the database after upgrading MS SQL Server 2000 to MS SQL Server 2005. In the middle of the process I got the following error:
MDB-05053 Errors when executing sql command: .
sapinst.log and sapinst_dev.log shows this error first:
FCO-00011 The step RunMAXConversion with step key |SAPMSSTOOLS|ind|ind|ind|ind|0|0|MssSysCopy|ind|ind|ind|ind|4|0|MssYukonUpg|ind|ind|ind|ind|5|0|RunMAXConversion was executed with status ERROR .
Any idea ?
George

Hi,
please open a command prompt, switch to the installation directory under Program Files and set the environment variable
set SAPINST_MSS_LOG=0N
Start the sapinst tool again from the same location from this command promt. Then a MSSLog.log is written during the run. Check the log for additional errors.
Regards
Clas

List of OOTB Reports for SQL Server and Windows Server

Hi,
I am struggling to find a list of OTB reports from Operations Manager for SQL and Windows. Ideally I need the name of the reports and a list of counters that they report on.
Can anybody give me an idea where I can find this?
Thanks,
Pete
Peter Carter http://sqlserverdownanddirty.blogspot.com/

Hi Pete,
I don't believe that there are any Windows or SQL Server specific reports out of the box from SCOM.
However, when you import the Windows (either Server or Client, unsure which you are referring to) and/or the SQL Server Management Packs, within the documentation it will tell you the reports that will also be imported and thus available.

B1TCH (DIC tools ) for SQL 2008 and SAP b1 8,81

Hi
In the past , I used B1TCH tools for updating fileds in jurnal entry with SQL 2005 and also B1 2007 verion.
but now I cannot use it with SQL 2008
is there any comment?
Thanks

Try: Get Your Kicks with DI Commander

About goldengate for sql server ,and from sql server to sql server replication,help!

IF I config odbc dsn_ggExtdb , when exect this command:
DBLOGIN sourcedb dsn_ggExtdb USERID sa,PASSWORD 123456
error :Unrecognized parameter (SOURCEDB), expected USERID.
help me!

Please ensure that you have downloaded the OGG software for SQLserver
OS >ggsci -v
Oracle GoldenGate Command Interpreter for Oracle <------- here is the problem it should reflect the DB environment that you would like to connect to in this case MS SQLServer
Version 11.2.1.0.1 OGGCORE_11.2.1.0.1_PLATFORMS_120423.0230
Windows x64 (optimized), Oracle 11g on Apr 23 2012 04:55:02
if the DB is not showing as Sqlserver , please download the correct patch form the Oracle Site and try.

Increase Performance and ROI for SQL Server Environments

May 2015
Explore
The Buzz from Microsoft Ignite 2015
NetApp was in full force at the recent Microsoft Ignite show in Chicago, talking about solutions for hybrid cloud, and our proven solutions for Microsoft SQL Server and other Microsoft applications.
Hot topics at the NetApp booth included:
OnCommand® Shift. A revolutionary technology that lets you move virtual machines back and forth between VMware and Hyper-V environments in minutes.
Azure Site Recovery to NetApp Private Storage. Replicate on-premises SAN-based applications to NPS for disaster recovery in the Azure cloud.
These tools give you greater flexibility for managing and protecting important business applications.
Chris Lemmons
Director, EIS Technical Marketing, NetApp
If your organization runs databases such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle DB, you probably know that these vendors primarily license their products on a "per-core" basis. Microsoft recently switched to "per-core" rather than "per-socket" licensing for SQL Server 2012 and 2014. This change can have a big impact on the total cost of operating a database, especially as core counts on new servers continue to climb. It turns out that the right storage infrastructure can drive down database costs, increase productivity, and put your infrastructure back in balance.
In many customer environments, NetApp has noticed that server CPU utilization is low—often on the order of just 20%. This is usually the result of I/O bottlenecks. Server cores have to sit and wait for I/O from hard disk drives (HDDs). We've been closely studying the impact of all-flash storage on SQL Server environments that use HDD-based storage systems. NetApp® All Flash FAS platform delivers world-class performance for SQL Server plus the storage efficiency, application integration, nondisruptive operations, and data protection of clustered Data ONTAP®, making it ideal for SQL Server environments.
Tests show that All Flash FAS can drive up IOPS and database server CPU utilization by as much as 4x. And with a 95% reduction in latency, you can achieve this level of performance with half as many servers. This reduces the number of servers you need and the number of cores you have to license, driving down costs by 50% or more and paying back your investment in flash in as little as six months.
Figure 1) NetApp All Flash FAS increases CPU utilization on your SQL Server database servers, lowering costs.
Source: NetApp, 2015
Whether you're running one of the newer versions of SQL Server or facing an upgrade of an earlier version, you can't afford not to take a second look at your storage environment.
End of Support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is Rapidly Approaching
Microsoft has set the end of extended support for SQL Server 2005 for April 2016—less than a year away. With support for Microsoft Windows 2003 ending in July 2015, time may already be running short.
If you're running Windows Server 2003, new server hardware is almost certainly needed when you upgrade SQL Server. Evaluate your server and storage options now to get costs under control.
Test Methodology
To test the impact of flash on SQL Server performance, we replaced a legacy HDD-based storage system with an All Flash FAS AFF8080 EX. The legacy system was configured with almost 150 HDDs, a typical configuration for HDD storage supporting SQL Server. The AFF8080 EX used just 48 SSDs.
Table 1) Components used in testing.
Test Configuration Components
Details
SQL Server 2014 servers
Fujitsu RX300
Server operating system
Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 Standard Edition
SQL Server database version
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition
Processors per server
2 6-core Xeon E5-2630 at 2.30 GHz
Fibre channel network
8Gb FC with multipathing
Storage controller
AFF8080 EX
Data ONTAP version
Clustered Data ONTAP® 8.3.1
Drive number and type
48 SSD
Source: NetApp, 2015
The test configuration consisted of 10 database servers connected through fibre channel to both the legacy storage system and the AFF8080 EX. Each of the 10 servers ran SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition.
The publicly available HammerDB workload generator was used to drive an OLTP-like workload simultaneously from each of the 10 database servers to storage. We first directed the workload to the legacy storage array to establish a baseline, increasing the load to the point where read latency consistently exceeded 20ms.
That workload was then directed at the AFF8080 EX. The change in storage resulted in an overall 20x reduction in read latency, a greater than 4x improvement in IOPS, and a greater than 4x improvement in database server CPU utilization.
Figure 2) NetApp All Flash FAS increases IOPS and server CPU utilization and lowers latency.
Source: NetApp, 2015
In other words, the database servers are able to process four times as many IOPS with dramatically lower latency. CPU utilization goes up accordingly because the servers are processing 4x the work per unit time.
The All Flash FAS system still had additional headroom under this load.
Calculating the Savings
Let's look at what this performance improvement means for the total cost of running SQL Server 2014 over a 3-year period. To do the analysis we used NetApp Realize, a storage modeling and financial analysis tool designed to help quantify the value of NetApp solutions and products. NetApp sales teams and partners use this tool to assist with return on investment (ROI) calculations.
The calculation includes the cost of the AFF8080 EX, eliminates the costs associated with the existing storage system, and cuts the total number of database servers from 10 to five. This reduces SQL Server licensing costs by 50%. The same workload was run with five servers and achieved the same results. ROI analysis is summarized in Table 2.
Table 2) ROI from replacing an HDD-based storage system with All Flash FAS, thereby cutting server and licensing costs in half.
Value
Analysis Results
ROI
65%
Net present value (NPV)
$950,000
Payback period
six months
Total cost reduction
More than $1 million saved over a 3-year analysis period compared to the legacy storage system
Savings on power, space, and administration
$40,000
Additional savings due to nondisruptive operations benefits (not included in ROI)
$90,000
Source: NetApp, 2015
The takeaway here is that you can replace your existing storage with All Flash FAS and get a big performance bump while substantially reducing your costs, with the majority of the savings derived from the reduction in SQL Server licensing costs.
Replace your existing storage with All Flash FAS and get a big performance bump while substantially reducing your costs.
Maximum SQL Server 2014 Performance
In addition to the ROI analysis, we also measured the maximum performance of the AFF8080 EX with SQL Server 2014. A load-generation tool was used to simulate an industry-standard TPC-E OLTP workload against an SQL Server 2014 test configuration.
A two-node AFF8080 EX achieved a maximum throughput of 322K IOPS at just over 1ms latency. For all points other than the maximum load point, latency was consistently under 1ms and remained under 0.8ms up to 180K IOPS.
Data Reduction and Storage Efficiency
In addition to performance testing, we looked at the overall storage efficiency savings of our SQL Server database implementation. The degree of compression that can be achieved is dependent on the actual data that is written and stored in the database. For this environment, inline compression was effective. Deduplication, as is often the case in database environments, provided little additional storage savings and was not enabled.
For the test data used in the maximum performance test, we measured a compression ratio of 1.5:1. We also tested inline compression on a production SQL Server 2014 data set to further validate these results and saw a 1.8:1 compression ratio.
Space-efficient NetApp Snapshot® copies provide additional storage efficiency benefits for database environments. Unlike snapshot methods that use copy-on-write, there is no performance penalty; unlike full mirror copies, NetApp Snapshot copies use storage space sparingly. Snapshot copies only consume a small amount of storage space for metadata and additional incremental space is consumed as block-level changes occur. In a typical real-world SQL Server deployment on NetApp storage, database volume Snapshot copies are made every two hours.
First introduced more than 10 years ago, NetApp FlexClone® technology also plays an important role in SQL Server environments. Clones are fully writable, and, similar to Snapshot copies, only consume incremental storage capacity. With FlexClone, you can create as many copies of production data as you need for development and test, reporting, and so on. Cloning is a great way to support the development and test work needed when upgrading from an earlier version of SQL Server. You'll sometimes see these types of capabilities referred to as "copy data management."
A Better Way to Run Enterprise Applications
The performance benefits that all-flash storage can deliver for database environments are significant: more IOPS, lower latency, and an end to near-constant performance tuning.
If you think the performance acceleration that comes with all-flash storage is cost prohibitive, think again. All Flash FAS doesn't just deliver a performance boost, it changes the economics of your operations, paying for itself with thousands in savings on licensing and server costs. In terms of dollars per IOPS, All Flash FAS is extremely economical relative to HDD.
And, because All Flash FAS runs NetApp clustered Data ONTAP, it delivers the most complete environment to support SQL Server and all your enterprise applications with capabilities that include comprehensive storage efficiency, integrated data protection, and deep integration for your applications.
For complete details on this testing look for NetApp TR-4303, which will be available in a few weeks. Stay tuned to Tech OnTap for more information as NetApp continues to run benchmarks with important server workloads including Oracle DB and server virtualization.
Learn more about NetApp solutions for SQL Server and NetApp All-flash solutions.
Quick Links
Tech OnTap Community
Archive
PDF

May 2015
Explore
The Buzz from Microsoft Ignite 2015
NetApp was in full force at the recent Microsoft Ignite show in Chicago, talking about solutions for hybrid cloud, and our proven solutions for Microsoft SQL Server and other Microsoft applications.
Hot topics at the NetApp booth included:
OnCommand® Shift. A revolutionary technology that lets you move virtual machines back and forth between VMware and Hyper-V environments in minutes.
Azure Site Recovery to NetApp Private Storage. Replicate on-premises SAN-based applications to NPS for disaster recovery in the Azure cloud.
These tools give you greater flexibility for managing and protecting important business applications.
Chris Lemmons
Director, EIS Technical Marketing, NetApp
If your organization runs databases such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle DB, you probably know that these vendors primarily license their products on a "per-core" basis. Microsoft recently switched to "per-core" rather than "per-socket" licensing for SQL Server 2012 and 2014. This change can have a big impact on the total cost of operating a database, especially as core counts on new servers continue to climb. It turns out that the right storage infrastructure can drive down database costs, increase productivity, and put your infrastructure back in balance.
In many customer environments, NetApp has noticed that server CPU utilization is low—often on the order of just 20%. This is usually the result of I/O bottlenecks. Server cores have to sit and wait for I/O from hard disk drives (HDDs). We've been closely studying the impact of all-flash storage on SQL Server environments that use HDD-based storage systems. NetApp® All Flash FAS platform delivers world-class performance for SQL Server plus the storage efficiency, application integration, nondisruptive operations, and data protection of clustered Data ONTAP®, making it ideal for SQL Server environments.
Tests show that All Flash FAS can drive up IOPS and database server CPU utilization by as much as 4x. And with a 95% reduction in latency, you can achieve this level of performance with half as many servers. This reduces the number of servers you need and the number of cores you have to license, driving down costs by 50% or more and paying back your investment in flash in as little as six months.
Figure 1) NetApp All Flash FAS increases CPU utilization on your SQL Server database servers, lowering costs.
Source: NetApp, 2015
Whether you're running one of the newer versions of SQL Server or facing an upgrade of an earlier version, you can't afford not to take a second look at your storage environment.
End of Support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is Rapidly Approaching
Microsoft has set the end of extended support for SQL Server 2005 for April 2016—less than a year away. With support for Microsoft Windows 2003 ending in July 2015, time may already be running short.
If you're running Windows Server 2003, new server hardware is almost certainly needed when you upgrade SQL Server. Evaluate your server and storage options now to get costs under control.
Test Methodology
To test the impact of flash on SQL Server performance, we replaced a legacy HDD-based storage system with an All Flash FAS AFF8080 EX. The legacy system was configured with almost 150 HDDs, a typical configuration for HDD storage supporting SQL Server. The AFF8080 EX used just 48 SSDs.
Table 1) Components used in testing.
Test Configuration Components
Details
SQL Server 2014 servers
Fujitsu RX300
Server operating system
Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 Standard Edition
SQL Server database version
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition
Processors per server
2 6-core Xeon E5-2630 at 2.30 GHz
Fibre channel network
8Gb FC with multipathing
Storage controller
AFF8080 EX
Data ONTAP version
Clustered Data ONTAP® 8.3.1
Drive number and type
48 SSD
Source: NetApp, 2015
The test configuration consisted of 10 database servers connected through fibre channel to both the legacy storage system and the AFF8080 EX. Each of the 10 servers ran SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition.
The publicly available HammerDB workload generator was used to drive an OLTP-like workload simultaneously from each of the 10 database servers to storage. We first directed the workload to the legacy storage array to establish a baseline, increasing the load to the point where read latency consistently exceeded 20ms.
That workload was then directed at the AFF8080 EX. The change in storage resulted in an overall 20x reduction in read latency, a greater than 4x improvement in IOPS, and a greater than 4x improvement in database server CPU utilization.
Figure 2) NetApp All Flash FAS increases IOPS and server CPU utilization and lowers latency.
Source: NetApp, 2015
In other words, the database servers are able to process four times as many IOPS with dramatically lower latency. CPU utilization goes up accordingly because the servers are processing 4x the work per unit time.
The All Flash FAS system still had additional headroom under this load.
Calculating the Savings
Let's look at what this performance improvement means for the total cost of running SQL Server 2014 over a 3-year period. To do the analysis we used NetApp Realize, a storage modeling and financial analysis tool designed to help quantify the value of NetApp solutions and products. NetApp sales teams and partners use this tool to assist with return on investment (ROI) calculations.
The calculation includes the cost of the AFF8080 EX, eliminates the costs associated with the existing storage system, and cuts the total number of database servers from 10 to five. This reduces SQL Server licensing costs by 50%. The same workload was run with five servers and achieved the same results. ROI analysis is summarized in Table 2.
Table 2) ROI from replacing an HDD-based storage system with All Flash FAS, thereby cutting server and licensing costs in half.
Value
Analysis Results
ROI
65%
Net present value (NPV)
$950,000
Payback period
six months
Total cost reduction
More than $1 million saved over a 3-year analysis period compared to the legacy storage system
Savings on power, space, and administration
$40,000
Additional savings due to nondisruptive operations benefits (not included in ROI)
$90,000
Source: NetApp, 2015
The takeaway here is that you can replace your existing storage with All Flash FAS and get a big performance bump while substantially reducing your costs, with the majority of the savings derived from the reduction in SQL Server licensing costs.
Replace your existing storage with All Flash FAS and get a big performance bump while substantially reducing your costs.
Maximum SQL Server 2014 Performance
In addition to the ROI analysis, we also measured the maximum performance of the AFF8080 EX with SQL Server 2014. A load-generation tool was used to simulate an industry-standard TPC-E OLTP workload against an SQL Server 2014 test configuration.
A two-node AFF8080 EX achieved a maximum throughput of 322K IOPS at just over 1ms latency. For all points other than the maximum load point, latency was consistently under 1ms and remained under 0.8ms up to 180K IOPS.
Data Reduction and Storage Efficiency
In addition to performance testing, we looked at the overall storage efficiency savings of our SQL Server database implementation. The degree of compression that can be achieved is dependent on the actual data that is written and stored in the database. For this environment, inline compression was effective. Deduplication, as is often the case in database environments, provided little additional storage savings and was not enabled.
For the test data used in the maximum performance test, we measured a compression ratio of 1.5:1. We also tested inline compression on a production SQL Server 2014 data set to further validate these results and saw a 1.8:1 compression ratio.
Space-efficient NetApp Snapshot® copies provide additional storage efficiency benefits for database environments. Unlike snapshot methods that use copy-on-write, there is no performance penalty; unlike full mirror copies, NetApp Snapshot copies use storage space sparingly. Snapshot copies only consume a small amount of storage space for metadata and additional incremental space is consumed as block-level changes occur. In a typical real-world SQL Server deployment on NetApp storage, database volume Snapshot copies are made every two hours.
First introduced more than 10 years ago, NetApp FlexClone® technology also plays an important role in SQL Server environments. Clones are fully writable, and, similar to Snapshot copies, only consume incremental storage capacity. With FlexClone, you can create as many copies of production data as you need for development and test, reporting, and so on. Cloning is a great way to support the development and test work needed when upgrading from an earlier version of SQL Server. You'll sometimes see these types of capabilities referred to as "copy data management."
A Better Way to Run Enterprise Applications
The performance benefits that all-flash storage can deliver for database environments are significant: more IOPS, lower latency, and an end to near-constant performance tuning.
If you think the performance acceleration that comes with all-flash storage is cost prohibitive, think again. All Flash FAS doesn't just deliver a performance boost, it changes the economics of your operations, paying for itself with thousands in savings on licensing and server costs. In terms of dollars per IOPS, All Flash FAS is extremely economical relative to HDD.
And, because All Flash FAS runs NetApp clustered Data ONTAP, it delivers the most complete environment to support SQL Server and all your enterprise applications with capabilities that include comprehensive storage efficiency, integrated data protection, and deep integration for your applications.
For complete details on this testing look for NetApp TR-4303, which will be available in a few weeks. Stay tuned to Tech OnTap for more information as NetApp continues to run benchmarks with important server workloads including Oracle DB and server virtualization.
Learn more about NetApp solutions for SQL Server and NetApp All-flash solutions.
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Kerberos Configuration Manager for SQL Server is available

This thread describes the Microsoft Kerberos Configuration Manager diagnostic tool for SQL Server. This tool is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
Download the package now.
About Kerberos Configuration Manager
The Kerberos Configuration Manager for SQL Server is a diagnostic tool that helps troubleshoot Kerberos related connectivity issues with SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). It can perform the following
functions:
Collect information on operating systems and Microsoft SQL Server instances that are installed on a server.
Report on all Service Principal Name (SPN) and delegation configurations on the server.
Identify potential problems in SPNs and delegations.
Fix potential SPN problems.
More information
This tools helps troubleshoot the following exceptions:
401
Note: This error message is for http errors, SSRS errors, and some other similar errors.
Login failed for user 'NTAUTHORITY\ANONYMOUS'
Login failed for user '(null)'
Login failed for user ''
Cannot generate SSPI Context
For more information about Kerberos Configuration Manager, go to the following related blogs:
Released: Kerberos Configuration Manager for SQL Server
Kerberos Configuration Manager updated for Reporting Services
Kerberos Configuration Manager updated for Analysis Services and SQL Server 2014
Reference from the following KB article: Kerberos Configuration Manager for SQL Server is available
Elvis Long
TechNet Community Support

Thanks for posting, Elvis. Can you post this to the SQL Security forum too?
Dan Guzman, SQL Server MVP, http://www.dbdelta.com

HADR Solution for SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) 2014 on Azure Iaas

Hi All
I am required to build a HA/DR solution for SQL Server and SSAS 2014 on Azure. So far I could build AlwaysOn high availability solution for SQL Server on Azure but haven't found any solution for SSAS.
Failover Clustering is not an option on azure because of the restriction of not been able to use shared storage. We also determined that the cost savings of using SQL + the cost of the 3rd Party replication tool was a wash (ie no real cost savings).
Any lead on this would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Viral Shah
Thanks - Viral

Hi Viral,
A clustered implementation of SSAS can be configured in Microsoft Azure. Such a configuration would need to meet all the requirements stated in the following document including Active Directory and storage.
How to Cluster SQL Server Analysis Services
http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/2/0/D20E1C5F-72EA-4505-9F26-FEF9550EFD44/SSAS_Failover_Cluster_V4.docx
Thanks,
Lydia Zhang

Missing BI Data Tools in SQL Server 2014

Hi All!
I just doing the first steps in SSIS 2014 (RTM) after I played around a lot with SSIS 2014 (CTP2).
In case of CTP2 there was a separate download in MSDN called "SQL Server Data Tools for SQL Server 2014 CTP2" which contained VS2012 + the projects for SSIS, SSRS etc...
I'm missing these tools for SQL 2014 RTM. What do I do wrong? Could it be, that they are still unreleased?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards,
Patrick

Hi Patrick,
It's true that the SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) is not shipped with SQL Server 2014 RTM DVD, and we need to download and install it from:
Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools - Business Intelligence for Visual Studio 2013
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42313
Regards,
Mike Yin
TechNet Community Support

BOXI R2 deployment on Solaris, data access to SQL Server and DB2

Have you deployed BusinessObjects XI Release 2 on Solaris and are accessing Microsoft SQL server 2000/2005? How about DB2? We had planned on using JDBC for SQL Server, and StarSQL 5.x for DB2. We are having trouble with configuration planning.Anyone have experience with this?

Have you deployed BusinessObjects XI Release 2 on Solaris and are accessing Microsoft SQL server 2000/2005? How about DB2? We had planned on using JDBC for SQL Server, and StarSQL 5.x for DB2. We are having trouble with configuration planning.Anyone have experience with this?

Service Account for SQL Server Agent on SQL Server 2008 R2

This SQL Server instance is SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.4000). We had Active Domain Service accounts created to run the service accounts for SQL Server and SQL Server Agent.
It has become company policy to alter the service accounts that run SQL Server and SQL Server Agent. Currently, both were running under the Local System Accounts. We have altered the SQL Server but we are having issues with the SQL Server Agent.
I am told by another DBA that
"The agent is requiring elevated rights. It will startup if it has local admin rights, but not with domain accounts without admin rights."
So I was wondering if anyone has come across this issue and how did they resolve it.
lcerni

"The agent is requiring elevated rights. It will startup if it has local admin rights, but not with domain accounts without admin rights."
This is completely not true. It is indeed possible to run agent as a domain account without giving it local admin. Chances are you'll need to update the local acls by adding the account to the local security groups. Please see this article for more information:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143504(v=sql.105).aspx
Edit: In addition, it'll need rights to SQL server for that account to connect and do its work. It will need to be given sysadmin:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191543.aspx
Sean Gallardy | Blog |
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