DC hardware spec's

[Victor Matei]

Can someone kindly post some information about best practices in sizing
hardware for Win2K Domain Controller ?
Are they allot different in Server 2003 ?
Thanks in advance !

 

[Brian Desmond [MVP]]

The specs for 2003 aren't really any different. I can give you a decent
estimate/opinion if you post approximations for the number of users,
computers, and domain controllers you'll have in your domain. Send the specs
you're thinking of if you want (and anything else you'd have loaded on the
servers), and I or someone else here can give you a decent idea of what you
need.


--
--
Brian Desmond
Windows Server MVP
(e-mail address removed)12.il.us

Http://www.briandesmond.com

 

[Victor Matei]

Brian,

We have roughly 60 users, possibly double in the next year, two sites, in a
root domain.
The biggest concern is feeding an Exchange 2000 server with relatively large
databases (around 30 Gb at this time and room to grow for perhaps 3 years
without adding hardware).
In addition we are planning implementing a VOIP telephone system which will
rely on AD and Exchange to update and find it's records.
The current setup has 3 DC's, two in the main site and one in the remote
site.
However we are experiencing rather slow performance from Exchange and I
suspect the old DC's don't quite keep up.
Thank you for any suggestions.

 

[Brian Desmond [MVP]]

A 30GB Information store for 60 users is huge, but well within Exchange's
limits.

Some things to check with regards to the Exchange server:
--> Is a Global Catalog in the same site as the Exchange server, preferably
on the same LAN? Exchange relies on a GC to do a lot of stuff
--> What kind of processor/memory usage is there on the Exchange server
right now?

It doesn't take much in the way of hardware for a domain controller hosting
60 users. The Exchange server is the big hardware requirement. What are the
specs on it?

The VOIP system will probably require a global catalog, but with 60 to - 120
users, you're not going to need much, a desktop computer could easily do the
job (though I'd definetely go for something with redundant I/O, etc).

--
--
Brian Desmond
Windows Server MVP
(e-mail address removed)12.il.us

Http://www.briandesmond.com

 

[Victor Matei]

Some things to check with regards to the Exchange server:

--> Is a Global Catalog in the same site as the Exchange server, preferably
on the same LAN?

Yes, currently two DC's located in same site and in same network switch with
Ex2K server.
What performance monitor counters should I check on the DC's for bottlenecks
?

--> What kind of processor/memory usage is there on the Exchange server
right now?

P III 1 Ghz, 1 GB ram, RAID 5 (3x36 Gb SCSI disks), HP server.

It doesn't take much in the way of hardware for a domain controller hosting
60 users. The Exchange server is the big hardware requirement. What are the
specs on it?

Still, I would like to cover all bases and make sure the new DC's I will
order match the Microsoft's recommendations for disk and memory
configuration.
Any input on this topic ?

 

[Cary Shultz [MVP]]

-----Original Message----- Exchange server,
preferably

Yes, currently two DC's located in same site and in same network switch with
Ex2K server.
What performance monitor counters should I check on the DC's for bottlenecks
?


P III 1 Ghz, 1 GB ram, RAID 5 (3x36 Gb SCSI disks), HP server. domain controller
hosting requirement. What are
the

Still, I would like to cover all bases and make sure the new DC's I will
order match the Microsoft's recommendations for disk and memory
configuration.
Any input on this topic ?



.

Brian,

I will throw in my two cents worth. Hope that you do not
mind!

Victor,

Hardware wise you should be fine - as far as the Exchange
side of things is concerned. Just one note: a single
RAID5 is not *necessarily* the best configuration for
Exchange.

IF - and that is always a big IF - you have the budget
and the Server has the HDD Bay Space, I would do the
following:

(1) Add two 18.2GB HDDs and mirror them ( RAID1 ). This
is where you would load WIN2000 Server as well as
Exchange 2000 Server and would be your C:\ partition;

(2) Get either an 18.2GB or 36.4GB HDD for the log
files. This drive would be solo and would be your D:\
partition. You would have to move the default location
of the Transaction Logs to this D:\ partition;

(3) Use the three 36GB HDDs in a RAID5 configuration for
the databases. This would be your E:\ partition. You
would have to move the Exchange Data Bases from the
default C:\program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA ( IIRC ) to the
E:\ partition.

There are also those that would suggest that you get a
fourth 36GB HDD and make a RAID0+1 for the best
performance of the Exchange Data Bases. I have yet to do
that and have always used a RAID5 configuration ( when I
set it up, that is ).

HTH,

Cary

 

[Brian Desmond [MVP]]

Hi Victor,

The easiest way to see if there's a DC being the bottleneck is to press Ctrl
Alt Del, goto Performance, and take a look at two things:

--> Physical Memory in use
--> Processor usage

If processor usage is > 50% or memory useage is greater than 70%, you have a
potential problem. If the server is a file server, you'll want to take a
look at the network tab and see what percentage of the available bandwidth
is in use. If its about 70%, you need to look into cutting the network
traffic, or team a couple of NICs together to share the load. You can find
counters for all these things in perfmon (start>run>perfmon.msc).

The key to making sure your Exchange server is working fine here is to make
sure you've got a Global Catalog in the same site as the Exchange Server. If
you open up AD Sites & services, and browse to the NTDS Settings object on a
DC in the Exchange Site, open the properties, and make sure Global Catalog
is ticked.

--
--
Brian Desmond
Windows Server MVP
(e-mail address removed)12.il.us

Http://www.briandesmond.com

 

[Brian Desmond [MVP]]

Cary,

There's a bit of a hole in your disks setup.

Ideally, Two RAID1s, and One RAID5 (or RAID 10, I use 5).

The RAID1 for Exchange & Windows binaries is good.
The RAID5 for the Information Store is good
The single disk for the Logs is a single point of failure. If you lose
transaction logs, you're out of luck, because those logs have not yet been
flushed since the last database backup. You want a RAID1 for the logs as
well.

--
--
Brian Desmond
Windows Server MVP
(e-mail address removed)12.il.us

Http://www.briandesmond.com

 

[Cary Shultz [MVP]]

-----Original Message-----
Cary,

There's a bit of a hole in your disks setup.

Ideally, Two RAID1s, and One RAID5 (or RAID 10, I use 5).

The RAID1 for Exchange & Windows binaries is good.
The RAID5 for the Information Store is good
The single disk for the Logs is a single point of failure. If you lose
transaction logs, you're out of luck, because those logs have not yet been
flushed since the last database backup. You want a RAID1 for the logs as
well.

--
--
Brian Desmond
Windows Server MVP
(e-mail address removed)12.il.us

Http://www.briandesmond.com





.

Good point, Brian!

Overlooked that. With Exchange, if you loose the log
files you have two choices: pack it up or have
fun 'reading' the log files.

Thanks for the catch.

Cary