How to Estimate the Database Size for Site Server Analysis

ID: Q216559

SYMPTOMS

When you import large log files or run lengthy reports involving a large SQL Server database, it can take a very long time to process this data, often in excess of twelve hours or more. The server may appear to stop responding and give only intermittent spurts of activity, or the operation may terminate abnormally with an error message.

WORKAROUND

The following algorithm can help you calculate the size of the SQL Server database to configure:

Number of days to import * average log file size per day * number of servers hosting the site(s) * 1.3 (30% for index space) * 1.25 (for tempDB) * 1.2 (for transaction log)

As an example:

90 days of log files to import
An average of ~100 MB per log (ideally this should be rounded up to allow for growth)
2 Web servers hosting this site using round-robin DNS

(90 * 100 * 2) = 18 GB
18 GB * 1.3 = 23.4 GB
23.4 GB * 1.25 = 29.25 GB
29.25 * 1.2 = 35.1 GB

A quicker way to estimate this is to note that 1.3 * 1.25 * 1.2 = 1.95. Therefore, if you multiply days * log size * servers, and then double that number, you will have a good estimate of the requirements.

Additional query words:


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Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: March 8, 1999