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AskSQLTeam
Ask SQLTeam Question
0 Posts |
 Posted - 2002-12-05 : 07:36:35
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| Scott writes "I am a Database Admin/ Developer, not a hardware person, so Ihope I have the concepts correct here.Is there any benefit to using multiple controllers on a server?For example, using separate RAID sets and controllers fordata, indexes and log. This way when an update or insert of manyrows occurs, which causes modifications to occur to data, indexesand transaction log, all modifications use separate controllersin parallel for better throughput. " |
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JamesH
Posting Yak Master
149 Posts |
Posted - 2002-12-05 : 08:01:05
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| My best performing Database servers are run with multiple channel controller cards. By splitting the databases onto different channels you increase the I/O performance. The heavier hit servers will have, for example, an IBM ServeRAID-4H controller card which gives me 4 channels to work with. I will configure the O/S on a single channel with the drives at RAID 1 or RAID 1E I will then put the Log on another channel (RAID 1, 1E, 5, or 5E) and then add a drive array (EXP 300) with say, 14x73.4GB drives and then split the backplane into two seperate channels. This will then give me 3 physical channels to house my databases 2 for Data and 1 for transaction logs. Of course, depending on your budget and your database application this can vary. I have some servers where I've had to add additional controller cards and drive arrays and in many cases the performance of the databases have increased even more (After adding additional .ndf files to the new drives). The more drives that your data goes accross, the better your performance. My Databases that are attached to a NetApp F880 with 3 trays really scream. (RAID 4) And the snapshots allow me to recover 200+GB Databases in minutes rather than hours. Still, the best performing databases will be a combination of PROPER database design and hardware configuration. Your RAID is also a major factor, not just your controller card, as many RAID levels may offer better redundancy or more space utilization they all have their tradeoffs. You will also find that other cards perform better than others and support different RAID levels. The best RAID Levels that I have seen for SQL Server (in a practical sense) are RAID 4, RAID 5E, RAID 1, and RAID 10. This is just my experience and by no means fits every situation. But to answer your question, yes it probably will perform better, how much depends on many other factors.Hope this helps. JamesH. |
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harshal_in
Aged Yak Warrior
633 Posts |
Posted - 2002-12-05 : 08:06:30
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| Definately RAID would increase the performance of the server especially the I/O operations.though it has its own trade offs but a proper database design and harware configuration will give an increased performance. |
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Do multiple RAID controllers benefit performance?