Windows Forum

Ask something
Discussion Locked

SQL server Solution on 2K

0 helpful
2 replies

by it

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

Hi. I am about implement an online DB solution for my company and wondered if anyone could share their experience with me. I am co-locating the hardware for this in a London server house where the backend DB is SQL server and users can access it thru IE5. Is it better to purchase 2 Servers (1x SQL-1x Web), 2 copies of Win2K, and a single processor license for SQL or could I get away with a single server(Dell PE 2650, dual 3GB Xeon, 2GB RAM) with SQL server and WIN2K installed. I am unsure if its a good idea to have both web server & SQL on same machine but cannot find anyone to tell either way. The database is accessed by password login but there will be a firewall in the rack to keep out any unwanted "Guests!"..I realise this is a basic explanation, but hope you can assist..
Thanx for your time
G

2 replies

by joseph moore

IMHO, that sounds like plenty of hardware to run SQL and the web server on the same machine.
You will have to consider the "single point of failure" aspect in this (if this machine dies, your whole system is dead), but if you are OK with that, then I say go for it.

by nathanforrest1

That certainly is a lot of processing power and memory and, depending on the size of your datasets (e.g. is there less than a million records per table/query), it would be tempting to put it with the web server in one box. However, Microsoft do repeatedly recommend that SQL Server should be placed on its own machine with web servers, file/print servers, etc all handled on separate hardware (but then they contradict themselves by selling Small Business Server so you can bundle the whole lot on 1 machine!!). For fault-recovery, consider the fact that a corruption (e.g. a failed security update) in IIS won't stop SQL Server running if it's on a different server and vice versa. And if you have to rebuild 1 server with more applications or data on it, then you'll suffer more downtime. Also, even though you are talking about a firewall, I would still be worried about the security impact of a hacker getting through your web site security and then finding all of your data on the same machine. I am about to present a cost proposal for a new web server and some SQL Servers tomorrow morning and I'm keeping all my kit separated. Hope this helps :)

This discussion is closed to new replies.