Physical Database Design

The I/O subsystem (storage engine) is a key component of any relational database. A successful database implementation usually requires careful planning at the early stages of your project. The storage engine of a relational database requires much of this planning, including:

• What type of disk hardware to use, such as RAID (redundant array of independent disks) devices. For more information, see RAID.
• How to place your data onto the disks. For more information, see Data Placement Using Filegroups.
• Which index design to use to improve query performance in accessing data. For more information, see Index Tuning Recommendations.
• How to set all configuration parameters appropriately for the database to perform well. For more information, see Optimizing Server Performance.