[sims] When should you move from SQL Express to Full SQL?

[fiza]

SIMS Server

We have upgraded to Sql 2008 Express and SIMS runs slow. We have SIMS InTouch and although Capita say that doesnt have an impact on SIMS overall performance I am sure it has degraded since InTouch was installed.

 

would it be beneficial to move from Sql Express to Sql Full? We have about 100 users and 800 students.

 

The SIMS Server is currently 2003 SP2 with 4GB and I am planning to put 2008 R2 on over the summer and up the RAM to 16GB.

[vikpaw]

Yes, to utilise the RAM i think, and also if your db is large, you'll want this. 100 is a fair number of users to have.

There is another thread with specific details on the differences and you can check with M$, but if you're a secondary, you should go Full, as you'll want to expand over time, you're already using an extra service in InTouch that will add data flow.

[fiza]

If we go for Sql 2008 , should it be R2? Is that supported by Capita yet? Also for 100 users would a per processor licence be better or Server + CALs? I have no idea how much SQL Standard is for educational use as we have always used Express versions.

[matt40k]

My full we mean Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard edition (with SP2 applied). Pretty sure processor(s) license would be best for you.

[srochford]

What kind of disc have you got for the database? Is anything else on the server? What does performance monitor tell you? (look at things like the disk queue length)

 

The full SQL server lets you use more RAM (1Gb limit on Express) so if you're running out of RAM then the full version will take advantage of what you've got without having to put in more RAM but if the disc is the bottleneck (and it often is!) then changing to full SQL or adding more RAM will be just throwing money away.

[Chris_]

To carry on from what others have said, SQL 2008 Express is also limited to only 1 processor so if you're using a server with multiple processors, SQL is only utilising one of them. 2008 Express is also limited to a database size of 4GB, 2008 R2 Express is limited to 10GB though.

[michael2k6]

What srochford and chris_ said is spot on. I often find disk queue is an issue. Is this a physical server or a virtual server?

 

Mic@Serco

[matt40k]

Good point, having separate discs for OS and Data helps alot and actually having SQL installed on the data drive\raid helps as well... not that I'm saying I've seen that happen...

[Butuz]

Yes you really need to upgrade if you are a Secondary School. The Express 1 CPU and 4GB RAM limit will be castrating the performance you could get.

 

If you move to SQL2008 Standard and up the RAM in the server to 8 or 16GB you will see a massive performance increase as SQL will effectively load your SIMS database into RAM which is much faster than the hard drives.

 

Butuz

[vikpaw]

If we go for Sql 2008 , should it be R2? Is that supported by Capita yet? Also for 100 users would a per processor licence be better or Server + CALs? I have no idea how much SQL Standard is for educational use as we have always used Express versions.

 

Yes it is supported now.