Which server to put SQL Server 2005 Express Edition on?

[pcwilson]

Hi Guys

I have two new servers arriving shortly.

Server 1:
Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 domain controller
1 x 2.66GHz Quad core Xeon
4GB RAM
3 x 300GB 15K SAS (RAID5)

Server 2:
Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 member server
2 x 2.66GHz Quad core Xeon
8GB RAM
2 x 73GB 15K SAS (RAID1)
3 x 300GB 15K SAS (RAID5)

Server 1 will be doing DNS, DHCP, WINS, AD, file and print for 50 users.
Server 2 will be doing Exchange 2007 for the same 50 users.

I'm trying to decide which server to put SQL Server 2005 Express Edition on. It will host a 350MB database for about 25 users.

Any DBAs willing to say which server they'd install SQL on, and why?

Cheers
Phil

[pcwilson]

LordGrover said:

Server 3 would be my choice. DC is already pretty busy and exchange is such a pig I wouldn't risk running anything else major on it.

Budget won't stretch to another server unfortunatley. If you had to pick, which would you go for?

[pcwilson]

SystemParanoia said:

+1

although, if your feeling brave, you could run another copy of server in vmware on the exchange box and load the sql onto that instance, so it has its own independent environment.... kinda..

Edited by SystemParanoia on Tuesday 5th February 16:20

Hadn't thought of that. Do I need an additional Windows Server license for the virtual server?

[pcwilson]

TonyToniTone said:

How many DC's will you have in total, if the answer is one then thats the server to put it on without doubt for all the reasons buggalugs listed..

or just run perfmon and see which has most free resources..

The 2 new servers described in my original post will be at my Glasgow site (50 users). I will have two identical servers at my Edinburgh site (another 50 users). One server in Glasgow will be a DC with a replica DC in Edinburgh. I have a 2Mbps leased line between the sites.

[pcwilson]

kiwisr said:

I really wouldn't put it on the DC, not just because of resource issues but because of security as well.

Additional you cannot install SQL on a DC running as a Network or Local System service. You have to use a domain account. Additionally you can never run DCROMO while SQL is installed - if you ever run into trouble later on you could be screwed.

Bugger. Just when I thought I'd made my mind up...

[pcwilson]

kiwisr said:

I really wouldn't put it on the DC, not just because of resource issues but because of security as well.

Additional you cannot install SQL on a DC running as a Network or Local System service. You have to use a domain account. Additionally you can never run DCROMO while SQL is installed - if you ever run into trouble later on you could be screwed.

There appears to be a workaround to the problem you describe, which gives me some hope:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929665

[pcwilson]

Hi Guys

Thanks for all the great advice. I'm going to go ahead and put the database on the DC. I now understand the issues with this, but I think it's the lesser of two evils. I'll monitor the DC closely and if it's struggling then I'll have the figures to justify additional disks or a dedicated server.

Cheers
Phil