ITMS 7.1 SQL Server Express
Updated: 08 Mar 2011 | 5 comments
This issue has been solved. See solution.
Okay I know it's brand new but ... I would like to test and possibly upgrade our environment from SMS/CMS 6.x to ITMS 7.1 as we have a current AUP and the new features will significantly improve our environment. However, because we are running SMS/CMS 6.x our SQL Server is 2000 Enterprise and upgrading it it simply out of the budget for this year. We run between 500 and 600 nodes total and mostly use it for Pathching and Inventories. Can we get away with running SQL Server Express in our case, admitedly with some performance loss, until I can get a SQL Server upgrade in the budget?
Comments
SQL Express is supported
Yes, you're going to have some performance hits, but SQL 2005/8 express does work. When in doubt always refer to "The Matrix".
Jim Harings
HP Enterprise Services
1st Rule of Connect Club: Mark the post that helped you the most as a 'solution'. 2nd Rule of Connect Club:You must talk about Connect club.
Supported
SQL Express is supported and tested according to the ITMS 7.1 Implementation Guide. I don't know that you would want to do many more than that many nodes. Symantec says 500 is your limit. The tradeoff may be purging historical data in order to maintain a small enough database size. You may find that with default purging, 500-600 nodes, and a limited number of solutions that database size is not a problem with proper maintenance.
You are definitely fine in the short term until you get SQL Server in the budget. And absolutely fine from an evaluation perspective to get a feel for the product and to show management (and possibly beg for that new server or SQL license).
Mike Clemson, Senior Systems Engineer
Intuitive Technology Group -- Symantec Platinum Partner
It should be fine, to some extent
I think there's some documentation here on Connect [1] regarding ITMS 7.1 design and scale guidelines [2], but as long as you are aware of the limitations inherent to SQL Server Express then you can go for it.
SQL Server Express must be good enough up to a certain point (which is where?) given we offer to install it if SQL is not found on the server.
[1] https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/a...
[2] http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC3464
Ludovic FERRÉ
Principal Remote Product Specialist
Symantec
1st Rule of Connect Club: Mark the post that helped you the most as a 'solution'. 2nd Rule of Connect Club:You must talk about Connect
Excellent!
Thank you for the link to the documentation. I had actually already seen these but apparently missed the notation about the support for SQL Express all together.
It is my hope that this will allow us to begin looking at the newest version and upgrading to something more functional even in a performance compromised state than what we have currently with 6.X. With a little pressure I hope to build a case to management to budget for the new SQL Server license next year. Am I correct that for less than 1000 nodes we wouldbe fine running SQL Server Standard with a processor license rather than the Enterprise license which is significantly more money?
Shannon DuBey
CMS/SMS 6.x & 7.x
No need for Enterprise
There's no need for Enterprise. You are fully supported with SQL Standard through enormous installations, provided you just cover your bases on the hardware side. (Symantec recommends physical, not virtualized, SQL, for over 500 nodes.) Again that's in the Symantec Management Platform Architecture and Design Concepts document. This hasn't been updated for 7.1 on 64-bit, however, and performance has increased -- so the hardware recommendations can probably support more nodes. In fact, SQL Express can probably support more nodes because the new limit is 10GB, up from the 4GB in SQL 2005 Express. So it's quite possible you could avoid a cost for a SQL license (unless I'm missing something from a DBA perspective).
Mike Clemson, Senior Systems Engineer
Intuitive Technology Group -- Symantec Platinum Partner
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