Help with SQL planning

The law firm I work for is about to go through some major software/hardware
changes that will include several new applications needing to use SQL
server. I definately want to make sure I make the right decision as to what
hardware and licensing choices are right for us (in other words I dont want
to be talked into buying anything we dont need).
The applications that need the use of a SQL server are:
Imaging database (database for scanned legal documents)
Firm database (stores the firms software application data)
Dialer database (works with a predictive dialer)
There are roughly 80 users on the network...with almost all accessing the
Firm database...Imaging only used by a few but contains alot of data...The
dialer would only account for about 20 users but as you can imagine would be
put to constant use.
Would it be logical to put all this load on one server? What solution would
you recommend from a cost perspective? A performance perspective?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
DaveHi Dave
As I don't know any of these applications, the best estimates will be those
provided by a vendor or partner. You can always get more than one quote and
award your business to the best tender.
If you are already using these applications then you should be able to get
some idea of sizing for the databases and predict possible growth rates.
You may have to do some load testing as part of the test cycle to make sure
the supplied system meets your capacity specifications.
Putting them on the same server would mean that they would share resources,
it would also mean that it would be very difficult to conclude that any one
application supplier was causing a particular issue. Having separate systems
may mean additional up-front costs for hardware and software licences.
What ever system(s) you opt for, you may want to make sure that you have
options to expand without having to totally change the hardware again.
John
"Dave" wrote:
> The law firm I work for is about to go through some major software/hardware
> changes that will include several new applications needing to use SQL
> server. I definately want to make sure I make the right decision as to what
> hardware and licensing choices are right for us (in other words I dont want
> to be talked into buying anything we dont need).
> The applications that need the use of a SQL server are:
> Imaging database (database for scanned legal documents)
> Firm database (stores the firms software application data)
> Dialer database (works with a predictive dialer)
> There are roughly 80 users on the network...with almost all accessing the
> Firm database...Imaging only used by a few but contains alot of data...The
> dialer would only account for about 20 users but as you can imagine would be
> put to constant use.
> Would it be logical to put all this load on one server? What solution would
> you recommend from a cost perspective? A performance perspective?
> Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
> Dave
>
>|||Dave wrote:
> The law firm I work for is about to go through some major software/hardware
> changes that will include several new applications needing to use SQL
> server. I definately want to make sure I make the right decision as to what
> hardware and licensing choices are right for us (in other words I dont want
> to be talked into buying anything we dont need).
> The applications that need the use of a SQL server are:
> Imaging database (database for scanned legal documents)
> Firm database (stores the firms software application data)
> Dialer database (works with a predictive dialer)
> There are roughly 80 users on the network...with almost all accessing the
> Firm database...Imaging only used by a few but contains alot of data...The
> dialer would only account for about 20 users but as you can imagine would be
> put to constant use.
> Would it be logical to put all this load on one server? What solution would
> you recommend from a cost perspective? A performance perspective?
> Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
> Dave
>
Hi Dave,
Based on your questions, I would suggest you hire a Consultant to plan
things "right from the start". Best of luck to you on this project.