A Preparing The Server For Microsoft Sql Server; Sql Server 2005 Installation - HP Integrity rx7620 Installation Manual

A Preparing the Server for Microsoft SQL Server

This appendix describes the server configuration tasks needed to install Microsoft SQL Server.
NOTE: The Itanium version of Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 is designed for use with the
following operating systems:
• Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based Systems with Service Pack 2, or later
• Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems, or later
NOTE: Only Microsoft® SQL Server® 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2 ) or later is supported on
Windows Server 2008.
NOTE:
If you are running Microsoft® SQL Server® 2005 "Server + CAL" licenses on a partitioned
server, you can only run the software on the number of partitions for which you have valid
software licenses. If you are running Microsoft® SQL Server® 2005 or 2008 "Per Processor"
licenses on a partitioned server, you can only run the software on the number of CPUs for which
you have valid software licenses.
NOTE: For Microsoft® SQL Server® 2005 Enterprise Edition Software users:
You may only run the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition software in place of Microsoft
SQL Server® 2008 Enterprise software in order to exercise your Downgrade rights under the
SQL Server 2008 Enterprise License Terms. The SQL Server 2008 License Terms apply to your
use of the SQL Server 2005 Software.

SQL Server 2005 Installation

This section is an overview of the steps needed to install SQL Server 2005. For further installation
and configuration information, see the SQL Server 2005 documentation.
1. Configure the server:
a. Set the system ACPI Config Flag to Windows.
b. Verify that system nPartitions are set to 100% cell local memory (CLM) by using the
ParCLI parstatus command. Adjust the value to 100% if necessary, using the
parmodify command. See the nPartition Guide.
c. Data Warehousing: For decision support and data warehousing, set the number of CPUs
to a higher number, such as four, up to the actual number of CPUs.
2. Configure SQL Server 2005:
a. Check affinity masks. By default these are set to zero. Set them to actual CPU
configurations for all CPUs using Spconfigure.
b. Confirm the degree of parallelism settings:
i.
ii.
3. Verify networking issues:
a. Confirm that you have enough network interface cards (NICs). If you have more than
10,000 packets/second on a NIC, add another NIC.
b. Enable TCP and IP, and Rx and Tx checksum off-loading.
4. Verify storage/Fibre Channel HBAs:
a. Maximum queue depth: Ensure that the Emulex driver options set in LPutil are equal
to or greater than the number of physical drives (default = 20).
b. Maximum queue depth: For Qlogic NVRAM, ensure that the Sanblade execution throttle
setting is equal to or greater than the number of physical drives (default = 16).
c. Enable write cache: It is important to have a cached log for the database.
If you have a large system (more than four CPUs), do not set this number to zero
using SPconfigure. Also, increase parallelism if you expect highly complex queries.
Online transaction processing (OLTP): For these workloads, set the level of
parallelism low (one query should not use more than one CPU, so set to 1).
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