Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 6. Architecting for Performance: Storage
All aspects of architecting your SQL Server Database for performance are important.
Storage is more important than most when compared to the other members of the IT
Food Group family we introduced in
Chapter 5
, “
Architecting for Performance:
shown us, and data from VMware Support validates this belief, that more than 80% of
performance problems in database environments, and especially virtualized
environments, are directly related to storage. Understanding the storage architecture in a
virtualized environment and getting your storage architecture right will have a major
impact on your database performance and the success of your SQL Server virtualization
project. Bear in mind as you work through your storage architecture and this chapter that
virtualization is bound by the laws of physics—it won't fix bad code or bad database
queries. However, if you have bad code and bad queries, we will make them run as fast
as possible.
Tip
Greater than 80% of all problems in a virtualized environment are caused by the
storage in some way, shape, or form.
This chapter first covers the key aspects of storage architecture relevant to both physical
and virtual environments as well as the differences you need to understand when
architecting storage, specifically for virtualized SQL Server Databases. Many of the
concepts we discuss will be valid for past versions of SQL Server and even the newest
release, SQL Server 2014.
We provide guidance on what our experience has taught us are important database
storage design principles. We present a top-down approach covering SQL Server
Database and Guest OS Design, Virtual Machine Template Design, followed by
VMware vSphere Hypervisor Storage Design and then down to the physical storage
layers, including using server-side flash acceleration technology to increase
performance and provide greater return on investment. We conclude the chapter by
covering one of the biggest IT trends and its impact on SQL Server. Throughout this
chapter, we give you architecture examples based on real-world projects that you can
adapt for your purposes.
When designing your storage architecture for SQL Server, you need to clearly
understand the requirements and have quantitative rather than subjective metrics. Our
experience has taught us to make decisions based on fact and not gut feeling. You will
need to benchmark and baseline your storage performance to clearly understand what is
