Please Help Me Fix My Server!!!?

Question

How can I get the most efficiency out of my Network Server

We have a server with two large Databases on it. We have 16 workstations tapping into the server for both Database files and user documents and folders. There are two HD’s, 160gig mirrored, and 2 gigs of RAM (We run Windows Server 2003). I am thinking of reformatting the drives to partition them, dedicating two partitions for the databases (one each), another partition for the servers system files, and the final for the network users files (several gigs alone).

Any ideas on if this is the right answer? Am I going in the right direction with my ideas for better speed and efficiency?

Answer 1

Nope. You're going in totally the wrong direction. Partitioning the hard drives as you suggest will give you a marginal boost in performance, at best. In all probability, you'll spend all that time and effort and find no noticeable difference.
You need to run a performance test over a period of a few days or weeks to see where your choke point is. Which core resouce(s) is/are getting hammered the worst? The "usual suspects" are, in order: network bandwidth, disk access, RAM and processor. Until you know what's slowing you down, you won't know how to fix it. (Putting in a bigger engine won't make your car much faster if your brakes are locked up....)
Once you have your performance figures, you'll have a MUCH better idea of where to go (that's what performance monitor is there for!)
Having a Gig NIC connected to a Gig port in an intelligent switch can make an amazing amout of difference in client access speeds. (Your server has 10 times the bandwidth of your workstations, and the switch distributes the load. The performance boost can be dramatic.) I've seen a lot of onboard Gig NIC cards actually perform atrociously, even though Windows says they're "fine". Installing a Gig NIC card can cure a lot of ills. So can changing the NIC's speed from autosensing/automatic to manual.
If it's RAM or processor, your only solution is to upgrade the hardware.
If the problem really is disk access, partitioning is not the answer. You have several options. Since you're running a mirror, make sure your controller supports hardware RAID, and it's a true hardware RAID array. If not, get a controller that actually does its job. You can invest in higher performance drives, or even better, invest in a second pair. Put your OS and network users files one one pair, and your databases on the other.
The problem might not be your server at all. We had a client with achingly slow network access speeds. We tore our hair out for weeks trying to solve the problem. Every test we ran showed the server was clean... purring like a kitten. Changing configurations, replacing hardware, etc. all did nothing. The culprit? Not enough RAM on the workstations. 256 will run XP; barely, but it won't drive network apps as well...

No matter what your choke point is, partitioning your single pair of drives will not solve the problem. It won't even help.

Answer 2

Slow connection speeds can be caused by a number of things. For starters: how is your network layout? All computers connected with 100 Mb Full Duplex? Then maybe adding a second network interface card to the server might already help.
Splitting databases, network files and system files is definitely a good idea, but having two seperate partitions for databases won't help (at least not with a view to speed). You better create a 4 Gig partition to place the swap file, leaving a 512 Mb swapfile on your C: drive. That way you're server will always boot, even if the C: drive should fill up to the rim.
Since you're running Windows2003, when was the last time you defragged the harddrive? When did you boot it last? Is it up to date?
What kind of databases are you running? Is it possible to compact these?

Answer 3

Your question isn't entirely clear. You have database files as in Access files? Or are you running a database server such as MS Sql Server? Assuming you are running a db server...

Partitioning your hard drive will help, but not very much. You don't want database files on the same drive as your system files or on the same drive as a file share. In fact, consider splitting the two jobs to two different servers.

If you're going to reconfigure/reformat, you might as well do it right. Throw in two more hard drives (mirrored) and dedicate them to database storage. Then if you can't spend more for a dedicated file server, partition your existing drives (one for system files, one for file shares). Finally, double the RAM if you can. Database servers like SQL Server eat up a lot of RAM.

Answer 4

Just curious.. Where do you work? (As in is your server at a school or office or something)

Lol.