SQL Server is one of the most commonly virtualised business critical applications, and one of the easiest to get wrong. These articles cover the best practices I have used across VMware vSphere and Nutanix AHV: storage layout, Windows settings, templates, availability groups and guest clustering, and how to test performance properly.
Start here
- Best Practices for Running SQL Server Virtualized – one of the most-read articles on this site
- Configuring Database Servers for Optimal Performance
- Disable Windows Disk Write Cache for Data Integrity and Better Performance – Windows disk write cache and data integrity
Design and configuration
- SQL Server Templates with VMware – Dude Where’s My Drive Letters?
- VMware Products Not Supported with SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups
- Virtualizing SQL Server with VMware: Doing IT Right!
- Storage Sizing Considerations when Virtualizing Business Critical Applications
SQL Server on Nutanix
- Rapid Provisioning of SQL Server Test Environments with Nutanix
- Nutanix SQL Server DB VAAI Clone Performance
- Customer Example: SQL Server and Oracle on Nutanix Web Scale Converged Infrastructure
- Enterprise Workloads and Databases on Nutanix Cloud Platform Evaluation
- Simple Guest OS Clustering Without Complex Config
Performance testing
- Improving HammerDB Benchmark Test Results
- Performance Testing Databases with Dell DVD Store 2.1 Benchmark
- Performance Testing MySQL and PostgreSQL with HammerDB and PGBench
Going further
- Bring the AI to the Data – Business Critical Databases Meet Enterprise AI on Nutanix – bringing AI to SQL Server and other databases
Related hubs: for Oracle, SAP HANA and other databases, see Databases on Nutanix. For AI on top of your SQL Server data, see Enterprise AI on Nutanix.