Dell R815 Setting up the servers, Setting up network configuration on the server, Installing system updates in Windows Server 2008 R2

We ran multiple SQL Server 2008 R2 instances on the test servers. We created two storage pools with

three storage arrays per pool. In each storage pool, we created two volumes for the SQL Server 2008 R2

instances, one 329GB volume for data and one 1.13TB volume for logs.

Setting up the servers

We installed a fresh copy of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition on each server.

Installing Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition on the hosts

1.Boot the server, and insert the Windows Server 2008 R2 installation DVD in the DVD-ROM drive.

2.At the Language Selection Screen, click Next.

3.Click Install Now.

4.Select Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise (Full Installation), and click Next.

5.Click the I accept the license terms check box, and click Next.

6.Click Custom.

7.Click Drive options (advanced).

8.Ensure you select the proper drive, and click New.

9.Click Apply.

10.Click Next.

11.At the User’s password must be changed before logging on warning screen, click OK.

12.Type Password1 as the new password in both fields, and click the arrow to continue.

13.At the Your password has been changed screen, click OK.

Setting up network configuration on the server

1.Click StartControl PanelNetwork and InternetNetwork Connections, and double-click the Local Area Connection assigned to client/server network traffic.

2.Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), and click Properties.

3.In the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties screen, select the Use the following IP address radio button.

4.Enter a valid static IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.

5.Click OK, and click Close to exit.

Installing system updates in Windows Server 2008 R2

∙We installed the following updates on each server using the Windows Update feature. Note: Due to a known bug in Hyper-V on some servers, we installed a hotfix from Microsoft (KB979903) on the IBM System x3850 X5.Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB980195)

∙Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB982381)

∙Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB977074)

∙Security Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB979309)

∙Security Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB972270)

∙Security Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB980232)

∙Security Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB979683)

Virtualized database performance comparison: Dell PowerEdge	A Principled Technologies test report 7
R815 vs. IBM System x3850 X5