Lesson 1: Planning to Install SQL Server 2000

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Once you have decided to install SQL Server 2000, you need to select the appropriate computer hardware for your SQL Server 2000 installation. It is important to understand the minimum hardware requirements for each of the SQL Server 2000 editions on each supported Windows operating system edition. You must recognize, however, that these minimum hardware requirements will be insufficient in many production environments to meet either actual current or anticipated future SQL Server requirements. This knowledge will assist you in selecting appropriate computer hardware to optimize SQL Server 2000 performance to meet current needs, as well as to help eliminate costly computer upgrade decisions later.

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After this lesson, you will be able to

• Describe the minimum hardware requirements for the installation of each of the SQL Server 2000 editions on each supported Windows operating system edition
• Determine which hardware resources are likely to be insufficient to meet the current and anticipated future needs of your SQL Server 2000 environment

Estimated lesson time: 15 minutes

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What Is the Minimum Hardware Required?

In most SQL Server 2000 production environments, actual hardware requirements will exceed the minimum hardware requirements. However, it is still important to understand these minimum hardware requirements as a baseline. In addition, in some SQL Server 2000 desktop environments, meeting the minimum hardware requirements will be sufficient to meet the needs of these environments. Table 2.1 lists the minimum hardware requirements that are common among all SQL Server editions (other than the Windows CE edition) regardless of the Windows operating system used.

Table 2.1 Hardware Requirements

Resource	Requirement
Computer	Intel or compatible
Processor	Pentium 166
Display	800x600 for SQL Server 2000 graphical tools 640 x 480 if SQL Server 2000 graphical tools are not used
Pointing Device	Microsoft Mouse or compatible
Network Card	Optional (but required for network access)
CD-ROM	Required if installing from compact disc (otherwise optional)

The minimum amount of memory required varies depending upon the SQL Server 2000 edition and the Windows operating system edition used. Table 2.2 lists the recommended minimum memory requirements based on the SQL Server edition and the Windows operating system edition used.

Table 2.2 Recommended Minimum Memory Requirements for SQL Server

	Enterprise Edition	Standard Edition	Evaluation Edition	Developer Editions	Personal and Desktop Engine Editions
Any edition of Windows 2000 Server	256 MB (128 MB supported)	256 MB (128 MB supported)	256 MB (128 MB supported)	256 MB (128 MB supported)	256 MB (128 MB supported)
Any edition of Windows NT 4.0 Server with Service Pack 5 (SP5) or later	128 MB (64 MB supported)	64 MB	128 MB recommended (64 MB supported)	64 MB	32 MB
Windows 2000 Professional	N/A	N/A	128 MB recommended (64 MB supported)	64 MB	64 MB
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, with SP5 or later	N/A	N/A	128 MB recommended (64 MB supported)	64 MB	32 MB
Windows ME	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	32 MB
Windows 98	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	32 MB

Note

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Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later is also required for all operating systems.

The amount of hard drive space required for an installation of any edition of SQL Server 2000 on any Windows operating system depends upon the installation options selected during setup. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of SQL Server, additional space will be required to update the existing user databases. Chapter 4 of this book covers the upgrading of earlier versions of SQL Server to SQL Server 2000.

Table 2.3 lists the amount of hard drive space required for the installation of various SQL Server 2000 components. These numbers assume that SQL Server must install all software required. Frequently, some of the required software, such as Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.6, is already installed. In these cases, less actual hard drive space might be required. However, even if less actual hard drive space is required, SQL Server 2000 setup will still enforce the hard drive space requirements set forth in Table 2.3 and will require you to have at least this much free hard drive space in order to successfully complete the installation of SQL Server 2000.

Table 2.3 Hard Drive Space Requirements for SQL Server 2000

Installation Option Selected	Hard Drive Space Required
Server and client tools	95-270 MB depending on the installation options selected
Typical installation	250 MB (178 MB on the system drive, plus 72 MB for program and data files)
Minimum installation	110 MB (73 MB on the system drive, plus 37 MB for program and data files)
Management tools	113 MB (system drive only)
Books Online	30 MB (system drive only)
Analysis Services	47 MB minimum 120 MB typical
English Query	80 MB
Desktop Engine only	44 MB

When selecting the computer hardware to use for your SQL Server 2000 installation, check the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). SQL Server 2000 does not have its own HCL. SQL Server 2000 will run on any hardware that is certified for the Windows operating system upon which you plan to install SQL Server 2000. To obtain the most recent HCL, go to www.microsoft.com/hcl. If the computer hardware used for your SQL Server 2000 installation is not on the HCL, you risk the integrity of your data (and possibly your job). Isolating and solving problems related to computer hardware and device driver failures is far easier with name-brand systems than it is with systems put together piece by piece. Any money saved through the purchase of cheap computer hardware on the front end will probably be spent many times over on the back end in resolving problems relating to computer hardware and device driver failures.

Exceeding Minimum Computer Hardware Requirements

So far, we have talked about meeting the minimum hardware requirements for various SQL Server 2000 editions and Windows operating systems editions. In most production SQL Server 2000 database environments, your computer hardware will be considerably in excess of these requirements. Even if you do not exceed these minimum hardware requirements immediately, as your databases grow, you will exceed them. It is important to understand areas in which your computer hardware will need to be more robust.

Table 2.4 describes the four primary areas in which you will probably exceed these minimum hardware requirements. Chapter 14 covers how to determine when your SQL Server 2000 environment will benefit from using more robust computer hardware. Chapters 5 and 6 cover how to optimize performance by using multiple drives and RAID.

Table 2.4 Hardware Areas for Optimization

Hardware	Considerations
Memory	SQL Server 2000 uses memory to optimize performance. Having adequate memory is one of the most important factors in optimizing SQL Server 2000 performance. Adding more memory is generally one of the quickest ways to improve performance. The upper limit on the amount of memory you can add is generally determined by the computer hardware you select. SQL Server 2000 can address up to 64 GB of memory on appropriate computer hardware using Windows 2000 Data Center (up to 8 GB using Window 2000 Advanced Server).
Processor	SQL Server 2000 can scale out to 32 processors and can scale up to the fastest Intel processors available in the marketplace. Planning for a fast multiprocessor system is a wise investment. SQL Server 2000 can be very processor-intensive, depending on the nature of the queries being processed.
Data Storage	SQL Server 2000 can benefit from fast drives, from multiple drives for different uses, and from the use of RAID. Most large production systems use RAID to improve performance and provide fault tolerance.
Network	SQL Server 2000 can benefit from fast network adapters and from high-speed networks, including system area network (SAN) protocols for very large databases. Lack of sufficient network bandwidth can be overlooked in optimizing SQL Server 2000 performance.

Finally, beware of using write-caching disk controllers. Unless the write-caching disk controller is specifically designed for use with a database, you risk corrupting your database. SQL Server 2000 relies on the Windows operating system to notify it when an I/O operation has completed. If the write-caching disk controller notifies the Windows operating system that a write operation has completed that never actually completes, your database can become corrupt. This can occur if the power fails or the reset switch is pressed on your computer before a write operation of data that is in the cache of the disk controller has actually been written to the hard drive. Write-caching disk controllers that are designed for databases use a number of mechanisms to prevent this from occurring.

Lesson Summary

The minimum computer hardware requirements for SQL Server 2000 depend upon the SQL Server edition and Windows operating system edition you select. In addition, selecting hardware that is certified for the Windows operating system on which you plan to install SQL Server 2000 is critical. Finally, most SQL Server 2000 production databases will run on hardware that substantially exceeds the minimum hardware requirements.