Technical white paper Proof Point: Example Clustered Microsoft SQL Configuration on the HP ProLiant DL980 Table of contents Introduction 2 Server Configuration 3 Microsoft SQL Server Overview 3 Network Layout 4 Storage Layout 5 Versions Used 8 BIOS 9 For More Information Documentation Feedback 13 13
Introduction The 8-socket scalable HP ProLiant DL980 is an excellent fit for customers to handle their most demanding Microsoft SQL workloads or to consolidate their Microsoft SQL environments. This paper demonstrates an example HP ProLiant DL980 configuration in a clustered SQL environment. The objective is to offer proof points illustrating that key pieces of the stack have been tested together on the HP ProLiant DL980 to provide customers confidence and guidance when deploying a similar solution.
Server Configuration In this configuration, each node is a ProLiant DL980 containing eight 2.40 GHz Xeon E7-2870 processors (10 cores each), and 64 x 8 GB 2Rx4 PC3 10600R RAM HP P/N 500205-071 (512 GB total). During testing, each node is taken down in turn, to ascertain that the SQL instance fails over properly. The failover is expected to transfer all shared storage to the new active node, but is not expected to maintain client connections.
Network Layout The following figure depicts the network topology of this test case.
The main public LAN connection for each cluster node consists of two NIC ports teamed together, one from port 2 of an NC360T in slot 1, and the other from port 2 of an NC360T in slot 7. Slot 1 is a PCI-e 1.0 slot in the DL980, but still has ample bandwidth to keep up with a dual gigabit ethernet adapter. Port 1 on each NIC card is not used for the purposes of testing.
On the second P2000 enclosure, RAID-10 is used for TempDB. This gives a boost in speed, although it makes little difference for this particular test. The User Log, Master Log, Master Database, Cluster Quorum, and DTC all reside on one RAID-5 array. Of these, the User Log is the only volume that should experience any significant traffic. Once again, small test volumes are embedded in each array. This configuration takes advantage of the native multipath IO (MPIO) feature included with Windows Server 2008 R2.
Figure 5 Test Case Storage Topology 7
Versions Used The table below lists the versions used in this test configuration. Please note that although firmware and driver versions are mentioned in this paper, they are shown only to establish an example of a baseline set that worked together when the test was run. In general, HP recommends using the most recent drivers, firmware, and operating system patches published on hp.com.
BIOS The HP ProLiant DL980 BIOS version is P66 05/01/2012 for this configuration. All BIOS default settings are taken, except: • 44-bit address mode is enabled. • All PCI-e card ROMs are disabled. • HP Power Profile is set to Maximum Performance. The tables below summarize the BIOS settings used for this test case configuration.
Table 4 PCI IRQ Settings Embedded USB 1.1 Controller 1 Embedded USB 1.1 Controller 2 Embedded USB 1.1 Controller 3 Embedded USB 1.1 Controller 4 Embedded USB 2.
Table 7 Standard Boot Order (IPL) 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 CD-ROM Floppy Drive (A:) USB DriveKey (C:) Hard Drive C: (See Boot Controller Order) PCI Embedded HP NC375i Integrated Dual Port Gigabit Adapter PCI Slot 7 HP NC360T PCIe DP Gigabit Server Adapter PCI Slot 1 HP NC360T PCIe DP Gigabit Server Adapter PCI Slot 1 HP NC360T PCIe DP Gigabit Server Adapter Table 8 Boot Controller Order 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Embedded HP Smart Array P410i Controller Embedded Intel® SATA Controller #1 Slot 9: HP StorageWorks 82Q 8Gb
Table 12 Server Asset Text Server Info Text Administrator Info Text Service Contact Text Custom POST Message (as applicable) (as applicable) (as applicable) (as applicable) Table 13 Advanced Options Advanced System ROM Options Video Options Thermal Configuration Service Options Advanced Performance Tuning Options Drive Write Cache Asset Tag Protection Power Requirements Override Option ROM Loading Sequence MPS Table Mode ROM Selection NMI Debug Button Virtual Install Disk PCI Bus Padding Options Memory
For More Information For an overview of the HP ProLiant DL980 server: http://www.hp.com/servers/dl980 For more information about the HP ProLiant DL980 G7 server with HP PREMA Architecture: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/15351-15351-3328412-241644-42225844231377.html To download the recommended components described in this document, along with other drivers and software, visit the HP ProLiant DL980 G7 Support web page: http://www.hp.
