Right-sizing MS SQL Server Storage Balancing Cost and Performance

As your business grows, so does your data. And if you’re running Microsoft SQL Server, you’ve likely faced the challenge of managing storage in a way that doesn’t break the bank but keeps your applications running smoothly. It’s a balancing act that many IT professionals and business leaders struggle with daily.

We hear from numerous mid-sized companies that hit a wall with their Microsoft SQL Server database. Either they’re overspending on unnecessary capacity, or they’re squeezing every byte out of overtaxed systems that can barely keep up with demand. Neither scenario is sustainable for a growing business.

Let’s talk about how to find that sweet spot between cost and performance for your Microsoft SQL Server database. When deploying new solutions, you want a seamless integration of storage, compute, networking and servers – without any worries. It all begins with a careful assessment of your requirements.

Understanding Your Microsoft SQL Server Storage Needs

First things first: Do you really know how much storage you need? Many organizations don’t, and that’s the root of the problem.

Before making decisions about your storage strategy, consider the following:

• Current database sizes, instance counts, database versions and growth rates.
• Peak/average transactions and latency needs.
• Uptime targets and disaster recovery objectives (RTO/RPO).
• Virtualization preferences and network bandwidth.
• Backup frequency and retention policies.
• Essential regulatory and security requirements.
• Financial constraints, existing infrastructure integrations and implementation/migration timelines.

With this data in hand, you can make informed decisions about how to get the most out of your Microsoft SQL Server infrastructure. It’s also important to find a partner that can help evaluate your environment and find your optimal configuration based on your needs. This includes measuring performance over time and identifying future needs for scaling up capabilities.

Getting the Most Out of Your Investment

When it comes to scaling your Microsoft SQL Server infrastructure, it’s essential to consider both your current and future needs. Ensuring access to critical insights that propel your business forward without necessitating further infrastructure investments is key. A flexible system should be able to easily scale its storage capacity and performance as you add more CPU and memory. This kind of adaptability is exactly what many businesses are looking for.

You deserve premium storage solutions without the premium price tag. With Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP One) you can achieve cost-effective, predictable performance across all applications, alleviating operational challenges and enhancing overall efficiency.

Maximize Efficiency and Cost Savings with Hitachi's New Microsoft SQL Server Solution

Our newly released Microsoft SQL Server Solution, powered by Hitachi VSP One, is designed to meet the performance demands of your business-critical applications while optimizing your storage footprint. Investing in an integrated solution ensures that you can quickly adapt to changing business requirements while maintaining access to critical insights and applications. This user-friendly, powerful and cost-effective solution accelerates your Microsoft SQL Server deployment while simplifying administration. We’ve done the hard work by integrating the storage, network, compute and servers all together in a pre-validated, risk-free stack specially designed for your Microsoft SQL Server environment.

With our commitment to 100% data availability and its range of hybrid-flash, all-flash and NVMe arrays, you can confidently position your organization for long-term success.

Hitachi’s storage infrastructure is recognized for its quality and reliability and is accessible to organizations of all sizes and budgets. Plus, innovative storage virtualization capabilities allow you to extract additional value from older infrastructure without the need for a complete overhaul.

Conclusion

Finding the right balance between cost and performance for your Microsoft SQL Server storage is crucial for the sustainable growth of your business. As data volumes increase and applications demand more resources, having a well-optimized infrastructure strategy becomes essential. By understanding your unique storage needs and leveraging the cost-effective yet powerful solutions from Hitachi Vantara, you can avoid the pitfalls of overspending and underperformance.

Visit our Microsoft SQL Server Solution page or connect with your Hitachi representative to learn more.

Read more

• Solution Profile: Accelerate Microsoft SQL Server Performance With Simplified, Scalable Storage
• eBook: Top 10 Reasons To Choose Hitachi Vantara for Microsoft SQL Server Infrastructure
• Reference Architecture Guide: Hitachi Solution for Microsoft SQL Server