Window sbs 2008 partition sizes?
We are using VM Ware 4.01 and have 2 RAID 5's logical partitions. i will be installing sbs 2008 only for present time. We will obvisously need to create virtual hard drives but im not sure how sizes to create and which drives to put them on.
Any recommendations for virtual hard drives to create and which volumes to put them on is welcome
also What size should the Windows 2008 sbs system partition be taking into consideration future growth?
Any recommendations for virtual hard drives to create and which volumes to put them on is welcome
also What size should the Windows 2008 sbs system partition be taking into consideration future growth?
Mike Thomas
I would suggest 80gig for the OS and whatever is required for the data, you can grow or shrink volumes in 2008 but you can only grow volumes in VM iirc not shrink them so have that in mind.
I would go with the microsoft requirements (http://www.microsoft.com/sbs/en/us/system-requirements.aspx) that appear to need 60GB. As MojoTech indicated use whatever your feel a need for for data partitions. There should be no difference for MS specs whether it is installed on a virtual or a physical server. The advantage on a virtual server is that it is pretty easy to add more space if needed.
Typically I/O load on OS partitions is pretty light, I would probably put both OS and DATA on the same RAID group, however if you are committing this ESX server to host this single 2008 SBS environment then by all means split up the load over the two raid arrays.
When considering load consider expected load from all VMs sharing a datastore.
Good Luck
Typically I/O load on OS partitions is pretty light, I would probably put both OS and DATA on the same RAID group, however if you are committing this ESX server to host this single 2008 SBS environment then by all means split up the load over the two raid arrays.
When considering load consider expected load from all VMs sharing a datastore.
Good Luck
ASKER
Microsoft recommends a minimum of 60 GB. How much room would that leave after a fresh install of SBS 2008? i want to make sure there is enough space on the partition for 3 to 4 years in future. any recommendations would be helpful?
To help with make the system partition as static (in regards to space consumed) as possible I will also be moving Exchange, SharePoint, User’s folders, User’s redirected documents, and WSUS content to the data partition. Anything else you would recommend moving?
To help with make the system partition as static (in regards to space consumed) as possible I will also be moving Exchange, SharePoint, User’s folders, User’s redirected documents, and WSUS content to the data partition. Anything else you would recommend moving?
ASKER
Forgot to mentioned there will be a separate virtual hard drive for the swap file.
I would still start off with 60 GB for the OS partition - the OS partition utilization doesn't tend to grow much after everything is installed - and in VMware if you need to make it larger at some point it is pretty easy to do.
For your data drive its another story - data drives can grow a lot over time... For my WSUS / WDS server I have allocated 120 GB for those two applications on 2008 R2 and it is about 50% utilized. Only you can estimate your space reqirements for Users folders, share point, redirected documents, and Exchange - you might consider implementing quotas on those to keep the users under control and go from there.
I don't really understand your last comment regarding swap - do you mean your ESX is configured to place swap somewhere other than the vms folder? Or are you refering to the virtual machines paging file? If the former than swap space is allocated at vm power on equal to the memory size configured for the VM. If the later you control how much paging file space is to be used - I typically allocate two times the memory allocation.
Hope this helps
For your data drive its another story - data drives can grow a lot over time... For my WSUS / WDS server I have allocated 120 GB for those two applications on 2008 R2 and it is about 50% utilized. Only you can estimate your space reqirements for Users folders, share point, redirected documents, and Exchange - you might consider implementing quotas on those to keep the users under control and go from there.
I don't really understand your last comment regarding swap - do you mean your ESX is configured to place swap somewhere other than the vms folder? Or are you refering to the virtual machines paging file? If the former than swap space is allocated at vm power on equal to the memory size configured for the VM. If the later you control how much paging file space is to be used - I typically allocate two times the memory allocation.
Hope this helps
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ASKER
Thanks everyone and especially siht. The post were very informative. I think ill go for 120 gig will be enough for the os and a seperate vmdk for the page file. I want to make sure we have plenty of room for hte future.
I really like the link siht. http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/small-business-server-2008-build-document.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0
I really like the link siht. http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/small-business-server-2008-build-document.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0
ASKER
I've decided not to run a virtual enviroment for SBS for other reasons and ill be using a physical windows 2008 sbs installation. Ive chosen a 150 GB size for the system partition. Is there anything that should be changed due to changing to a physical enviroment?
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ASKER
yeah already chosen RAID 1 for the OS and RAID 5 for the data (spare disk). 20 GB for the RAM, probably abit of a over kill but historically we dont get much funding (this machine is replacing NT 4) so having a spec machine is very nice and room for any additional roles should we need it.
ASKER
thanks guys