sql server 2005 slows down a sbs2003 VMr s

[gbras]

Hi,

on our ESX 3.5 host there is a sbs2003 VM (4GB RAM assigned) wihich runs of server 2005 for mail archiving and other routine tasks.

when called by applications or system, sql server db indexing takes 100% cpu for some minutes and slows down a lot the entire VM.

I'm not an expert of sql server and I've been told that to solve the problem on a physical host I should limit the memory of every sql istance and limit usage to one core/processor of the CPU.

Inside the VM I'm able to limit memory assigned to sql server (with sql server studio) but I cannot limit the cpu usage to one core/processor, because the virtual CPU is seen by the OS as uniprocessor.

Is there a way to upgrade this VM to a multiprocessor one?

And, more important, will it solve the problem?

Thank you in advance

Guido

[Lightbulb]

Is the ESX host that the VM runs on Multi-processor or Multi-core?

If your VM is seeing only one vCPU, then you do not need to set it to use one CPU/Core cause it already is.

Yes you can assign second vcpu to VM (The 2003 HAL should automatically update)

Then from within the SQL2005 you can adjust the properties of the SQL instance so that the OS uses a vcpu and SQL uses one. (Talk to your DBA first)

Note: Make sure Boost SQL Server Priority is unchecked, this setting causes all sorts of issues when checked. (see attached screen shot)

Whether this will help or not is an open question. It is harder to remove a processor from a Windows 2003 system than to add one.

You might want to check your SQL logs for errors while index rebuilds are run. Also the issue may be I/O related. Are your you using one VMDK file for everything? You should have OS, Data and transaction logs on separate disks. Also you should check that correct offset on the drives that house Data/Transaction logs.

If you have a DBA he/she should be able to provide performance guidelines.

Tom Halligan

[Texiwill]

Hello,

Moved to Virtual Machine and Guest OS forum.

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky
VMware Communities User Moderator
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Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.
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