Dell POWEREDGE R720 - Manual (Page 4)

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Fast Track Reference Configurations using PowerEdge R720 and PowerVault MD3620i
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Executive summary
Dell™ and Microsoft®, in cooperation, provide guidelines and design principles to assist customers in
designing and implementing a balanced configuration for Microsoft SQL Server
® data warehouse
workloads to achieve “out-of-the-box” scalable performance. These database reference architectures
enable each of the components in the database stack to provide optimal throughput to match the
database capabilities of the specific setup. Dell 12
th generation servers, along with the robust storage
backends, form efficient candidates for a high performing data warehouse solution.
This white paper describes the architectural design principles and guidelines used to achieve an
optimally balanced SQL Server Data Warehouse solution using Dell PowerEdge R720 and PowerVault
MD3620i iSCSI SAN storage along with Microsoft SQL Server 2012. The performance numbers achieved
for the reference configuration are also discussed in detail.
Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server Fast Track reference
architectures
The objective behind the database Fast Track reference configurations is to provide guidance and
resources to help customers identify the right architecture and configuration for data warehouse
solutions. The following are tangible benefits of following these recommended configuration best
practices and guidelines:
• Accelerated data warehouse projects with pre-tested hardware configurations
• Reduced hardware and maintenance costs by purchasing the right balanced hardware solution
and optimizing it for a data warehouse workload.
• Reduced planning and setup costs leveraging the Certified Reference Architecture
configurations.
• Predictable performance by configuring the system correctly, and taking advantage of the
tuning directions.
The Fast Track reference architectures avoid the risk of improperly designed and configured systems.
These guidelines ensure that the capability and throughput for the entire system is maximally utilized.
Configurations are designed specifically for the data warehouse or BI (Business Intelligence) systems.
Visit msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd459146%28v=sql.100%29.aspx for more information on Fast
Track Data Warehouse architectures.
What’s new with Dell Microsoft Fast Track reference
architectures?
Dell and Microsoft have refreshed the Fast Track reference architecture offerings with the latest
technology advancements. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and Dell PowerEdge™ 12
th generation servers are
the latest additions to the list of reference architecture components.
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 comes with several exciting features which directly benefit database
environments. Column Store Index is one of these important features, which impacts the data
warehouse database configurations. This feature enables storing data in columnar fashion, in contrast