Glenn Berry wrote:Glenn Berry is a Database Architect at Avalara in Denver, Colorado. He is a SQL Server MVP, and he has a whole collection of Microsoft certifications, including MCITP, MCDBA, MCSE, MCSD, MCAD, and MCTS, which proves that he likes to take tests. His expertise includes DMVs, high availability, hardware selection, full text search, and SQL Azure. He is also an Adjunct Faculty member at University College – University of Denver, where has been teaching since 2000. He has completed the Master Teacher Program at Denver University – University College. He is the author of two chapters in the book, SQL Server MVP Deep Dives, and blogs regularly at http://sqlserverperformance.wordpress.com. Glenn is active on Twitter, where his handle is @GlennAlanBerry.

Glenn Berry wrote:Relational databases place heavy demands on their underlying hardware. Many databases are mission-critical resources for multiple applications, where performance bottlenecks are immediately noticeable and often very costly to the business. Despite this, many database administrators are not very knowledgeable about server hardware. The idea behind this eBook is to provide a quick "heads up" to the issues that I have found to be most important when choosing and configuring hardware for use with SQL Server, by providing a series of specific tips or pieces of advice. In 30 short tips, I provide advice on how to:

- choose a processor, and related hardware, for database servers, and the factors that will influence that choice
- choose a processor for test and development systems
- provision and configure your disk subsystem.

Of course, in 30 tips, spanning about 60 pages, I can't cover everything that may impact your choices, and I also can't provide in-depth "tutorial-style" material. For fuller and finer details on all the topics covered here, plus coverage of how to install and configure the operating system and SQL Server on your chosen hardware, for maximum performance and reliability, please check out my book, SQL Server Hardware.

I would like to stress that hardware is a fast-and-ever-changing field. In several places I specifically quote the date at which a piece of advice was valid (time of writing, July 2011). My plan is to release updated versions of this eBook as new hardware technology emerges and my "best practice" advice and recommendations adapt accordingly.