Chapter 2: Storage Engine Capacity Planning Tips

The I/O subsystem (storage engine) is a key component of any relational database management system (RDBMS). A successful RDBMS implementation requires careful planning at the early stages of the project. The storage engine comprises much of this planning, including what hardware to purchase, how to store data on the hardware, and how to set the configuration parameters appropriately. To accomplish these tasks requires an extensive understanding of the RDBMS architecture.

This chapter includes:

• Descriptions of the new dynamic features of SQL Server 7.0 and recommendations for when to use them.
• Descriptions of the architecture of the I/O subsystem, memory, processor threading, and utilities to improve capacity planning.
• Recommendations for setting system configurations to exploit resources more effectively.