How powerful is sqlserver?

I know this is a very open ended question, but it is one that I have not yet
found an answer to. How powerful is sql server?
I appreciate that there are ways of making it more efficient, but surely
there are limits. For example:
how many records can it handle in a database before it just becomes too big?
How many requests can it run concurrently?
I understand that this can all be expanded through clustering, etc. but lets
just assume I only have a single license, which i do.
Thanks. I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.
>I know this is a very open ended question, but it is one that I have not
>yet
> found an answer to. How powerful is sql server?
How fast is fast? There is no SQL Server speed limit. Performance is
mostly a function of hardware and application design.

> how many records can it handle in a database before it just becomes too
> big?
A table size is technically limited only by available storage. I've had
single table with billions of rows with excellent performance (properly
indexed of course). A consideration is manageability, though. Very large
tables are usually partitioned for manageability rather than performance.

> How many requests can it run concurrently?
It depends what you mean by 'concurrently'. A CPU (logical processor) can
run only one request at a time so the maximum number of active queries using
CPU is equal to the number of available (logical) processors. In practice,
queries often spend a considerable amount of time waiting for disk or
network I/O to complete and SQL Server can manage hundreds of concurrent
queries in a variety of states. The end result is that thousands of
transactions per second can be executed on a single server in a typical OLTP
profile.
Hope this helps.
Dan Guzman
SQL Server MVP
"P1ayboy" <P1ayboy@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:364B5A09-DBA1-4B52-94DE-CDC4C2A9E516@.microsoft.com...
>I know this is a very open ended question, but it is one that I have not
>yet
> found an answer to. How powerful is sql server?
> I appreciate that there are ways of making it more efficient, but surely
> there are limits. For example:
> how many records can it handle in a database before it just becomes too
> big?
> How many requests can it run concurrently?
> I understand that this can all be expanded through clustering, etc. but
> lets
> just assume I only have a single license, which i do.
> Thanks. I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.
|||"P1ayboy" <P1ayboy@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:364B5A09-DBA1-4B52-94DE-CDC4C2A9E516@.microsoft.com...
>I know this is a very open ended question, but it is one that I have not
>yet
> found an answer to. How powerful is sql server?
> I appreciate that there are ways of making it more efficient, but surely
> there are limits. For example:
> how many records can it handle in a database before it just becomes too
> big?
> How many requests can it run concurrently?
> I understand that this can all be expanded through clustering, etc. but
> lets
> just assume I only have a single license, which i do.
> Thanks. I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.
See:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinf...enchmarks.mspx
http://www.wintercorp.com/VLDB/2005_...nners_2005.asp
http://www.tpc.org/
In view of the fact that you are asking this question I'd guess the right
answer is probably "More powerful than you need". :-)
David Portas, SQL Server MVP
Whenever possible please post enough code to reproduce your problem.
Including CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements usually helps.
State what version of SQL Server you are using and specify the content
of any error messages.
SQL Server Books Online:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/ms130214(en-US,SQL.90).aspx
|||Thanks guys. I'm putting together an idea for a company, but it will be quite
database intensive, so i really need to find out what my technical
requirements are.
"David Portas" wrote:

> "P1ayboy" <P1ayboy@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:364B5A09-DBA1-4B52-94DE-CDC4C2A9E516@.microsoft.com...
> See:
> http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinf...enchmarks.mspx
> http://www.wintercorp.com/VLDB/2005_...nners_2005.asp
> http://www.tpc.org/
> In view of the fact that you are asking this question I'd guess the right
> answer is probably "More powerful than you need". :-)
> --
> David Portas, SQL Server MVP
> Whenever possible please post enough code to reproduce your problem.
> Including CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements usually helps.
> State what version of SQL Server you are using and specify the content
> of any error messages.
> SQL Server Books Online:
> http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/ms130214(en-US,SQL.90).aspx
> --
>
>
|||On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 06:51:32 -0800, "P1ayboy"
<P1ayboy@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>Thanks guys. I'm putting together an idea for a company, but it will be quite
>database intensive, so i really need to find out what my technical
>requirements are.
I've run SQLServer on some modest but current hardware and just been
amazed at its capacity.
Remember that a lot depends on the other tiers, a sloppy middle tier
that generates 100x more load than it should, and SQLServer isn't
really the issue.
Properly configured server should handle a couple hundred simple
selects per second on a well-designed database, assuming that most of
the frequently accessed data can stay in RAM. If you have to scan
terabyte tables, you're into hardware constraints, not really
SQLServer. If your database tier logic is complex, you'll have to
provide a few more hints!
OTOH, if your "server" is a single processor with a single physical
disk, capacity will be a LOT lower.
All very rough, your mileage may vary, advice worth what you paid for
it, have a nice day.
J.
|||It depends upon how you define "database intensive". I've dealt with
customer who serve 100% of the content for their website dynamically
straight out of SQL Server. One of these has tens of millions of users,
hundreds of thousands of which are banging on the website at any given time,
billions of pages of content served every day, and tens of billions of
database requests every day. The trick all goes back to database design,
application code, and indexing. I have seen entire financial exchanges
running on a single SQL Server. So, in terms of what can be done, I don't
know of a single application ever built that can not be handled by SQL
Server.
Mike
http://www.solidqualitylearning.com
Disclaimer: This communication is an original work and represents my sole
views on the subject. It does not represent the views of any other person
or entity either by inference or direct reference.
"P1ayboy" <P1ayboy@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A78A40EA-A80F-4178-BC6A-B757F21DA9B3@.microsoft.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Thanks guys. I'm putting together an idea for a company, but it will be
> quite
> database intensive, so i really need to find out what my technical
> requirements are.
> "David Portas" wrote: