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Database Server Standard
(Up to 8000 Students)

  • Processor - Dual Xeon w/ 2MB L2 cache, 64-bit
  • Memory - 4GB or more
  • First RAID Container (OS,Swap File,Backup Staging Area) - RAID 1 - 72 GB
  • Second RAID Container (Transaction Logs) - RAID 1 - 72 GB
  • Third RAID Container (Data Files) - RAID 5 -Three (3) 36 GB Drives
  • Backup - Tape Backup or existing backup system
  • NICs - Two (2) 10/100/1000 Network Cards
  • Operating System - Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, 64-bit
  • SQL Server - SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition, 64-bit


Database Server Advanced
(Over 8000 Students)

  • Processor - Quad-Core, 64-bit
  • Memory - At least twice the DB size to allow for growth, minimum of 8 GB
  • RAID set up -Six (6) 146 GB 15K RPM drives. schooltool recommends using 2 of these drives as a mirror for the OS and using the remaining 4 drives in a RAID 5
  • Backup - Tape Backup or existing backup system
  • NICs - Two (2) 10/100/1000 Network Cards
  • Operating System - Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, 64-bit
  • SQL Server - SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition, 64-bit

Notes:
1. With the exception of mirrored arrays (which are two physical drives working together), the more physical drives that are in an array, the faster reads and writes are for that array. For example, let's say that we want to purchase a new SQL Server with a RAID 5 array and that we need at least 100MB of available space. Let's also assume that the vendor has proposed two different array configurations:
  • 4 - 36GB drives (108GB available)
  • 7 - 18GB drives (108GB available)
Both of these options meet our criteria of providing at least 100MB of RAID 5 disk space. But which array will provide better read and write performance? The answer is the second choice, the 7 18GB drives. Why? Generally speaking, the more disks that are in an array, the more disk heads there are available to read and write data. SCSI drives, for example, have the ability to read and write data simultaneously. So the more physical drives that there are in an array, the faster data is read or written to the array. Each drive in the array shares part of the workload, and the more, the better. There are some limits to this, depending on the disk controller, but generally, more is better.

2. A single disk controller, whether is it is SCSI or fiber, has a maximum limit on its throughput. Because of this, you will want to match the number of disk controllers to the amount of data throughput you expect. As each controller is different, schooltool cannot recommend specific solutions, other than to say that at a very minimum, you will want two disk controllers. One controller should be used for non-hard disk devices, such as the CD-ROM, backup devices, and so on. The other controller would be used for hard disks. The goal is to avoid attaching both slow and fast devices on the same controller. Quite often, you see this scenario, which is a good one. One controller is for non-hard disk devices, one controller is used for a RAID 1 local hard disk, and a third (and sometimes more) is used for arrays that hold SQL Server database files and logs. Be sure you don't attach more drives to a controller than it can handle: while it may work, performance will suffer.

Web Server (Up to 3000 Students)

  • Processor
    Dual Xeon w/ 2MB L2 cache
  • Memory
    2GB
  • OS, Swap File, & web application
    40B G ATA Hard Drive
  • NICs
    10/100/1000 network cards
  • Operating System
    Windows Server 2003 Web Edition

Report Server

  • Processor
    Dual Xeon w/ 2MB L2 cache
  • Memory
    2GB
  • OS, Swap File, & web application
    RAID 1 – 72 GB
  • NICs
    10/100/1000 network cards
  • Operating System
    Windows Server 2003 Web Edition

Workstation (PC)

  • Processor
    Win 2000 - Pentium 133Mhz
    Win XP - Pentium 300Mhz
  • Memory
    Win 2000 - 64MB
    Win XP -128MB
  • Operating System
    Win 2000 SP4
    Win XP SP2
  • Hard Drive
    Win 2000 - 650MB free space
    Win XP - 1.5GB free space
  • Web Browser
    Internet Explorer 7
  • NIC
    10/100 network card

Workstation (Mac)

  • Processor
    PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor w/ USB
  • Memory
    128 MB or higher
  • Operating System
    MacOSX 10.3 or higher
  • Hard Drive
    3 GB (2GB free space)
  • Web Browser
    Safari 1.2 or higher
  • NIC
    10/100 network card