SQL upgrade

[autumn]

G day all

I need to look at SQL upgrade for a customer. The software company has released an update to their software which will install SQL 2019 express, express isn't the issue.

The software company is saying they need a minimum processor speed of 2Ghz where SQL 2019 says it's minimum is 1.4Ghz. So their current server is 1.7Ghz. So do I go against the software company and upgrade. Understand that they will blame the processor speed as all their issues, well what else is new there, lol. And then start the process of changing servers/services, so double handling basically.

What are my options with SQL cloud services? This is the final LOB app that this client has on a server. I haven't setup Azure AD (or whatever it's called now) yet but they are open to it and if needed this would push them over. Currently, they have onsite an AD server (not linked to cloud), and this server, an RDP server for a LOB app being phased out. haven't set up Azure AD so a bit over whelmed with what is needed to do. Any advise there would be great as well.

Thanks

Tim

 

[Sky-Knight]

Azure SQL services are EXPENSIVE. And worse, they are only really accessible from a VM hosted in Azure AND they have limitations that make it not quite the same SQL environment the LOB vendors are used to.

Since you need a VM anyway, I'd just spool up a VM in Azure, and install the app... express and all right on it and run from there. Especially if it's a web app when you're done. This configuration will match what you're used to, what the LOB vendor is used to, and keep support clean.

The final nail is securing access to the app itself, make sure you configure your Azure Network Security Groups accordingly, or use a VPN. I like using ZeroTier for this, free for 1 admin and 25 devices is really nice.

 

[SAFCasper]

GHz is literally meaningless without more context. I don't understand why companies continue using it as a system requirement.

An 8 year old dual-core Pentium can be "supported" because it's 2.5GHz while the latest gen top-line Xeon Platinum with 60 cores is unsupported due to being 1.9GHz base.

I often compare it to setting a speed requirement on a car by saying "it's wheels can turn at 1,000RPM" without specifying the size of the wheels.

 

[putz]

G day all

I need to look at SQL upgrade for a customer. The software company has released an update to their software which will install SQL 2019 express, express isn't the issue.

The software company is saying they need a minimum processor speed of 2Ghz where SQL 2019 says it's minimum is 1.4Ghz. So their current server is 1.7Ghz. So do I go against the software company and upgrade. Understand that they will blame the processor speed as all their issues, well what else is new there, lol. And then start the process of changing servers/services, so double handling basically.

If you want the vendor to support it, follow their guidelines no matter how generic they might be. Otherwise like you state, when you call for support they are going to blame your customer for not meeting the requirements.

 

[autumn]

GHz is literally meaningless without more context. I don't understand why companies continue using it as a system requirement.

An 8 year old dual-core Pentium can be "supported" because it's 2.5GHz while the latest gen top-line Xeon Platinum with 60 cores is unsupported due to being 1.9GHz base.

I often compare it to setting a speed requirement on a car by saying "it's wheels can turn at 1,000RPM" without specifying the size of the wheels.

Yep so true. considering the current server is a dual Xeon ...

I mentioned the CPU to the software guys and they just went, it's not supported because of the Ghz. They don't care how many cores or CPU's it has.

 

[britechguy]

I mentioned the CPU to the software guys and they just went, it's not supported because of the Ghz.

But "not officially supported" does not mean, "won't work with."

I would still never use an unsupported processor if a client is involved, but I sure will try it if it's for me. I recently had to get graphics cards for CAD-CAM software that I really, really suspect would have worked perfectly well without them on Ryzen processors with their on-board graphics. But since it was for a client, we got what was officially supported. We intend to try it out on a Ryzen box sans graphics card at some point just as a curiosity-satisfying exercise.