| Author |
Topic |
|
drewsalem
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
304 Posts |
 Posted - 2007-05-03 : 12:52:40
|
| My organisation is in the very frequent habit of creating a new sql server on a new machine every time they get a new application.You see, they discovered VMWare last year and now as a result I have 40 SQL Servers to look after, on my own. You have no idea how much it is doing my head in, in terms of checking logs and jobs and general maintenance, especially if a job hangs (not fails) and doesn't notify me.Before I throw a tantrum, is what they're doing good or bad practice. Some may argue that having a dedicated machine for a sql server (with one database!), is a good thing.Drew |
|
|
spirit1
Cybernetic Yak Master
11752 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 13:08:48
|
| you're running production sql servers on VM ware?_______________________________________________Causing trouble since 1980blog: http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/mladenp |
 |
|
|
rmiao
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
7266 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 13:09:55
|
| You may not like this, it depends. I have servers to host hundreds of dbs, also have servers to host one small db. All depends on requirement. |
|
|
|
drewsalem
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
304 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 13:44:03
|
quote:
you're running production sql servers on VM ware?
Yeh, tens of them. Why? quote:
You may not like this, it depends. I have servers to host hundreds of dbs, also have servers to host one small db. All depends on requirement.
It's not the number of database on it's own, but the number of databases on so many servers.Drew"It's Saturday night; I've got no date, a two liter bottle of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape... LET'S ROCK." |
|
|
|
tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 13:48:12
|
quote:
Originally posted by spirit1
you're running production sql servers on VM ware?
That isn't a problem if the VM is configured properly and if the database will be relatively small and not too active.Tara Kizerhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/ |
|
|
|
tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 13:49:45
|
quote:
Originally posted by drewsalem
Before I throw a tantrum, is what they're doing good or bad practice. Some may argue that having a dedicated machine for a sql server (with one database!), is a good thing.
Well they need to give you an explanation as to why they need a new server for each application. Are the existing ones at full capacity?Tara Kizerhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/ |
|
|
|
drewsalem
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
304 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 13:59:32
|
| No, 'cause they can. The magic of VMWare. Some databases have mickey mouse sizes at a few hundred mb.What's wrong with running big active databases on VMWare? We have some massive production databases on VMWare. GIVE ME AMMMMMO!Drew"It's Saturday night; I've got no date, a two litre bottle of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape... LET'S ROCK." |
|
|
|
tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 14:06:34
|
| Just check Performance Monitor on the servers running big, active databases to show them hardware bottlenecks. Use the information at sql-server-performance.com to determine which counters to track. The ones that are MM sizes should all be on the same VM.Tara Kizerhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/ |
|
|
|
drewsalem
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
304 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 14:19:52
|
| I'll do that.So are you saying that they are prone to bottlenecks on virtual servers?Drew"It's Saturday night; I've got no date, a two litre bottle of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape... LET'S ROCK." |
|
|
|
tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 14:24:47
|
| I'm saying they aren't as powerful as physical servers.Hopefully eyechart will join this thread soon to discuss the proper configuration of VMs. He's done a lot of research on this subject. He can probably tell you its limits too.Tara Kizerhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/ |
|
|
|
mcrowley
Aged Yak Warrior
771 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 14:33:47
|
| Maybe you can hit them over the head with the cost of SQL licensing? 40 standard edition servers comes out to $200,000 to buy, and I am not sure what to maintain.Over here, I have some 50 servers with close to 400 DBs to watch over (a mix of single db stand alone machines, and consolidated mobs of misfit databases). Nothing over 50GB, though. I put together a database of databases, and run scripts off of that database to sift errorlogs, get job statuses, filesizes, etc.. Makes my life a whole lot easier. |
|
|
|
Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 17:22:40
|
| "especially if a job hangs (not fails) and doesn't notify me"We've got some String-and-Gum stuff that expects a data feed in a certain format and complains if ti doesn't get it.So, for example, it can digest Maintenance Plan Reports and complain if the sequence of lines is not as expected (i.e. regardless of the "variable bits" in the report). Ditto for expecting a "Your job succeeded" email, which then failed to arrive.Its a bit more reliable than me checking umpteen logs each morning, and missing the needle-in-the-haystack on a morning-after-the-night-before sort of a day!It uses Perl to do some reasonably fuzzy-matching, and generally doesn't raise much in the way of false-negatives.Just thinking out loud ...Kristen |
|
|
|
drewsalem
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
304 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-04 : 03:56:42
|
| But is that for logs across umpteen servers? How do you automate the accumulation of logs from different servers without having to create linked servers.Drew"It's Saturday night; I've got no date, a two litre bottle of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape... LET'S ROCK." |
|
|
|
Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-04 : 07:15:22
|
| "But is that for logs across umpteen servers?"Yup, basically."How do you automate the accumulation of logs from different servers without having to create linked servers"Each server "phones home" and uploads some details. Usually a text file generated locally - concatenation of logs, query from database, etc. Then "home" checks that a) the file arrived and b) that the content of the file contains nothing unexpected.Kristen |
|
|
|
drewsalem
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
304 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-04 : 07:35:26
|
| Ooh. I think I'll try this afternoon. After I've finished checking the logs...Drew"It's Saturday night; I've got no date, a two litre bottle of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape... LET'S ROCK." |
|
|
|
jen
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
4110 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-05 : 19:26:23
|
wow, you must have the budget for each vm as well for the OS and SQL Server licenses  --------------------keeping it simple... |
|
|
|
drewsalem
Constraint Violating Yak Guru
304 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-08 : 04:29:09
|
quote:
Originally posted by jen
wow, you must have the budget for each vm as well for the OS and SQL Server licenses --------------------keeping it simple...
I work for the government! Drew"It's Saturday night; I've got no date, a two litre bottle of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape... LET'S ROCK." |
|
|
|
JimL
SQL Slinging Yak Ranger
1537 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-08 : 09:28:55
|
quote:
I work for the government!
Well that explanes everything!!!! JimUsers <> Logic |
|
|
|
|
Too many servers, doing my head in.