ConfigMgr 1511 Server & SQL Specs

Harjit

Hi, what are the minimum recommended hardware specs for a primary site ConfigMgr server running SQL on the same box? I'm looking for number of CPUs, server memory, and SQL memory allocation. If there are docs pointing to that info, it'll be much appreciated as well. Thanks.

Brett_Moffett

Do you have to have SQL running on the same box?
There is a significant performance increase if you separate the SQL and ConfigMgr Primary Site server.

As for hardware specs, specific hardware will be determined on what roles you are planning to run.
WSUS and the Update Point for example take a lot of CPU and DP's take a lot of drive space.
Check out https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg682077.aspx and run through each of the roles that you want to add to the server to work out what specs you need.

Hope this answers your question

Harjit

Brett_Moffett said:

Do you have to have SQL running on the same box?
There is a significant performance increase if you separate the SQL and ConfigMgr Primary Site server.

As for hardware specs, specific hardware will be determined on what roles you are planning to run.
WSUS and the Update Point for example take a lot of CPU and DP's take a lot of drive space.
Check out https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg682077.aspx and run through each of the roles that you want to add to the server to work out what specs you need.

Hope this answers your question

@Brett_Moffett
Yup, SQL and WSUS on the same box. 

Brett_Moffett

My advice is to move SQL to another box.
As part of the license for ConfigMgr you are also given a license of SQL server and Windows server to run both SQL and ConfigMgr on. (This goes for ALL the System Center suite)
Therefore it is no more expensive for licensing to run 1 or 2 servers but it does make a difference in performance.

wally_mead

And while I won't necessarily disagree with Brett's recommendation, as each environment is going to be different, and lots of factors will dictate what should be done in each scenario, if *usually* is recommended to keep SQL and ConfigMgr on the same box. Of course, you need hardware that can support that, but most server class systems today can do so easily. In the very old days, it was *usually* recommended to separate the two workloads, however improvements to Configuration Manager, SQL Server, and hardware, have all resulted in a reverse in that recommendation.

So, now, as a general rule, it is most often recommended to keep SQL and ConfigMgr on the same box. Brett linked the TechNet doc for reference on supported configs, so use that as a guideline, but also remembering that those are guidelines that may not be valid for your specific scenario and implementation.