SQL Server capacity planning
In order for SQL Server capacity planning to be affective, resellers must plan the hardware to last the life of the server.
Database administrators (DBA) use capacity planning to predict the resources that a SQL Server will need over its lifetime, to provide optimal services for the applications using it.
Best practices include:
- Ensuring the hardware is modular to permit hardware upgrades.
- Ensuring that the server/hardware can be repurposed should the applications outgrow the existing hardware.
- Ensuring that a representative load test is done on the hardware to study its performance characteristics.
- Ensuring that the hardware selected will be powerful enough to support and take advantages of new features and requirements of SQL Server and application upgrades.