What SQL DBAs need to know about SharePoint

What SQL DBAs need to know about SharePoint
JD Wade, MCITP
SharePoint Consultant
Horizons Consulting
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jdwade
Blog: http://wadingthrough.com

Why, oh why, oh why?

Single Platform – Power and Challenge!
Corporate
Web
Presence
Single Business Productivity Platform leading to common:
End-user Experience
Rich Integrated Capabilities
Toolset and Development
Deployment and Management
Employee
Portal
Knowledge
Management
Portal
Regulatory
Compliance
Repository
Users
Sales
Division
Portal
Custom
SAP
Front-End
Business
Intelligence
Dashboard
R&D
Community
Geneva
Office
Site
Extranet
Collab
Site
Team “ABC”
Site
Project
“X” Site
Weekly
Issue
Tracking
Meeting
Corporate
Teams
Departments
Empowerment

SQL ImplementationCommonly Perceived Gaps
SharePoint tables are too wide, wraps rows
SharePoint manages its own (NVP) indexes
SharePoint adds force-order, query hints
Missing indexes for common operations
Excessive use of Dynamic queries
No SQL Referential Integrity OR key constraints
DBCC with data loss not supported
Missing integration of Back-up/Restore

Why are DB Changes Not Supported?
Single data platform for all workloads
Workloads with conflicting platform needs
Change for one may adversely affect another
Upgrade and Servicing expects solid DB contract
App logic is heavily dependent on DB specifics
App enforces constraints and integrity!
Mostly Read
Article Pages
Search and structured queries
Corp
Web
Presence
Users
Read Writes
Office Documents
Organization and ad-hoc queries
Team
Collab Site
Empowerment

Storage

Storage5 Key Points to Consider
…
App Server
App Server
App Server
SQL Server
1
HBA
HBA
2
3
4
5
tempdb tempdb T-log
DB T-logs
Content DBs
Search DB

StorageOptimizing SQL Server I/O Subsystem
Ensure correct HBA driver and firmware versions
Use SQLIO.exe to measure I/O performance
Configure correct NTFS Allocation Unit Size
64K best; default (4K) can result in a 30% perf hit
To view: chkdsk <drive_letter>
Ensure correct Windows “Sector Alignment”
Incorrect setting can result in up to 50% perf hit
Use diskpart to check and set alignment
64K most common. Windows 2008 aligns sectors by default
Free space on NTFS partition should be > 25%

StorageDatabase Configuration
Recommended database file placement
priority (fastest to slowest drive)
tempdb data and t-log files
Db transaction log files
Search db data files
Content db data files
In a heavily read-oriented portal site, prioritize data over logs.
Place tempdb, Content db and t-logs on separate LUNs
Use multiple data files for Content and Search dbs
Distribute equi-sized data files across separate disks
# of data files should be <= # of processor cores
Multiple data files are not supported for other dbs
Place SharePoint Search crawl and query processing tables on separate spindles

StorageDatabase Sizing
Site Collections > 15GB, use SQL Backups
Limit Content DBs to 100 GB (soft limit)
If larger consider differential backups using
SQL or DPM
Size SQL Server data files appropriately
Pre-allocate data file to cover anticipated size of Content db
Rely on SQL ‘Autogrow’ only as a catastrophic insurance policy
Set SQL ‘Autogrow’ to fixed value appropriate for size of db
Use dedicated database for large Site Collections (> 50GB)
Configure tempdb data files = No of proc cores
Configure tempdb to be at least 10% (25% preferred) of total Content db size, or the size of the largest table - whichever is greater

Configuration

ConfigurationTypical Deployment Sizes

ConfigurationRecommended Capacities

ConfigurationProcessors
Deploy on 64-bit, especially if >1000 users, or >100 GB of data
Use 64-bit SQL Server if using 64-bit OS
IA-64 only supported on db tier, not on app tier

Configuration Memory
Set ‘Max Server Memory’
SQL Max Memory = TotalPhyMem
- (NumOfSQLThreads * ThreadStackSize)
- (1GB * CEILING(NumOfCores/4))
- (Any mem required for ‘other’ apps)
NumOfSQLThreads = 256 + (NumOfProcessors*- 4) * 8
ThreadStackSize = 1 MB on x86
2 MB on 64-bit (x64)
4 MB on 64-bit (IA64)
On 64-bit use LPiM privilege for SQL Server account
If using SQL Std edition need following CU + trace flag
CU2 for SQL Server 2008 SP1 (KBA 970315)
CU4 for SQL Server 2005 SP3 (KBA 970279)
* If NumOfProcessors > 4, else 0.

Configuration
Use SQL Server connection alias
Simplifies redirecting WFEs to a different dbinstance
Do not modify SPT schema
No new columns or
indexes permitted
Use SharePoint tools
to index columns

Configuration
Test use of MAXDOP = 1
Separate instance for SharePoint Databases
Set Fill Factor to 70
SharePoint ignores Model Autogrow settings

Maintenance

Maintenance
Monitor SQL Server performance regularly
Check integrity of the database routinely
DBCC CHECKDB
Can use REPAIR_REBUILD option to fix errors (not always possible)
REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS not supported
Time consuming operation, run during non-peak hours
For very large DBs consider using option MAXDOP=1
Defragment physical files
Maintain farm account as DBO for moves/restores

MaintenanceFragmentation
Content and Search dbs most susceptible
Rebuild / Reorganize indexes to eliminate fragmentation
Reorganize index when fragmentation between 10-70%
Rebuild index when fragmentation > 70%
Existing index options used before the rebuild operation are not restored. Issue resolved in SQL Server 2005 SP2 and higher
Use sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats to measure
More accurate than DBCC SHOWCONTIG, often reports higher fragmentation numbers
Auto-defrag only available in MOSS 2007 SP2 and for Content dbs but may need manual defragmentation
Database Maintenance for SharePoint white paper

MaintenanceShrinking Database Size
Only shrink Content databases, not others
Only perform if free space > 50% (after content reorg)
Do not perform as part of maintenance plan
Allocate 10-20% growth allowance when determining target size

High Availability
High availability options supported:
Failover Clustering (local & stretch clusters)
Database mirroring (Sync & Async)
Log Shipping often used in conjunction to provide disaster recovery

High AvailabilityDatabase Mirroring Configurations
DB Mirroring within farm
(Synchronous)
DB Mirroring across farms
(Asynchronous)

High AvailabilityDatabase Mirroring
Needs to be individually configured for each SPT db
Requires Full Recovery model
Both Synchronous and Asynchronous modes supported
Synchronous DBM mode with witness server recommended for high availability
Transfer SPT logins from Primary to Mirror server
Script available in KBA 918992
DB Mirroring SQL end-points should be encrypted when channel is not secured by other means

High AvailabilityDatabase Mirroring
Only supported on SQL Server Standard and Enterprise editions
Standard edition only supports Synchronous mirroring
On Standard edition 1 redo thread per db; on enterprise edition 1 redo thread per db per 4 cores
Witness server can run on SQL Express
Several improvements in SQL Server 2008 DBM
Log stream compression
Automatic Page Repair
Pending send buffers limit increased from 3 to 64

High AvailabilityAsynchronous Mirroring
Asynchronous DBM can be used to provide redundancy for Content dbs across farms
Does not guarantee consistency
DBs that cannot be Async mirrored
Configuration & Central Admin Content dbs
Contain location specific references, must be rebuild at mirror site
SSP dbs only if using Search
Search requires sync between SSP dbs, Search db, and index (index file cannot be mirrored)

Upcoming Attractions

SQL 2008 R2SharePoint Integration
Improved Reporting Services in SharePoint integrated mode
Easier install
Extract data from SharePoint 2007 or 2010 lists
SSRS is reporting engine for SharePoint Access Services reporting
PowerPivot for SharePoint
“SSAS in SharePoint integrated mode”

SharePoint 2010
Support for RBS using SQL Filestream
Restore items directly from SQL database
AvePoint add-on
Support for SQL Mirroring built-in
Access Services
PerformancePoint built-in

Sources
Primary slide content with modifications from:
SharePoint Conference 2009SPC319: SQL Server Best Practices for SharePoint Deployments
BurzinPatel, Senior Program ManagerMicrosoft Corporation
Database Maintenance for SharePoint white paperhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262731.aspx

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What SQL DBAs need to know about SharePoint

by JD Wade on Mar 16, 2010

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What SQL DBAs need to know about SharePoint — Presentation Transcript