Help needed for Hardware Upgrade in order to bring the batch time down by 50%

Johnny_Rook · Sep 6, 2016

I have SQL Server Express on my Laptop with following configuration

Model: HP 240 (F6Q29PA) Processor:Intel Core I3-3110M CPU@2.4 Ghz RAM : 2GB HDD : 500 GB Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit OS

I run my batch every weekend and it takes about 15 hours to finish. Obviously this is too much for my poor home laptops and they keep burning up. So I am looking to have a more professional machine for it. The aims are

1) The machine shouldn't overheat and burn up every two years.

2) The batch time should come down to 7-8 hours (10 hours is passable too). That way I can run my batch daily instead of just weekends.

I don't intend to do anything else on this machine other than probably some Excel, so I don't have any Graphics Requirement at all. Kindly help me with your suggestions. I will be happy to provide more info if required.

Faux_Grey · Sep 6, 2016

Desktop Intel i5, 4XXX or 6XXX series should do fine.
Throw on a nice heatsink and it'll churn away without overheating, with an extra 2x cores than the laptop.
Should cut the time in half, even more so than that because the desktop i5 will be clocked higher.

Johnny_Rook · Sep 6, 2016

Faux_Grey :

Thank You Faux Grey. Problem is that stores have stopped keeping Desktops these days. I will have to get it assembled from not so trustworthy vendors. Can a heatsink be added in laptop.

molletts · Sep 6, 2016

AFAIK, SQL Server Express only uses one thread (i.e. one core) so go for a higher-clocked CPU over one with more cores. Any database server benefits from lots of memory; I don't know how big your database is but the 2GB in the laptop is almost certainly a serious bottleneck, once Windows and SQL Server's own usage have been taken out of it (especially on 64-bit). Fast storage (SSD) is also useful, especially if there isn't enough RAM to cache the entire database - the laptop's hard-drive is most likely a major bottleneck on the basis that there isn't enough RAM to avoid using it.

Sometimes, just throwing RAM at the database can transform its performance by avoiding disk accesses - in a previous job, I saw an SQL Server 2000 database app go from "unusable" to "flying" simply by upgrading its server from 1GB RAM (which seemed like quite a lot back in 2003) to 4GB (people didn't believe it was possible to have that much). Make sure you use a 64-bit build of SQL Server so it can use as much RAM as possible. (I think Express may have memory limitations but the Windows file system cache will help too.)

Johnny_Rook · Sep 6, 2016

molletts :

Thank You Mollets. What you say makes perfect sense from a performance point of view. I also was exploring was solid state drive and higher RAM. Yes. I have 64 bit version. SQL Server Express is not the best solution for a db but it is free

How do I ensure that if I have to buy a laptop, it doesn't keep burning up because of overuse. I already use cooling pad/fan but it can only help so much, especially since I am located in India, don't have an AC and atmospheric temperature regularly exceeds 40 C (105 F)

molletts · Sep 6, 2016

Johnny_Rook :

Yikes! 40°C really is quite warm!

A laptop obviously isn't ideal but if it's your only option then you'll have to run with it. An SSD will run cooler than a hard drive and, if the database engine is only using one core, the others should throttle back to their lowest power setting automatically. It would be worth tweaking the Windows power profile so that the graphics is also able to throttle back even when the laptop is running on mains power (I think the default configuration keeps the graphics at full performance when on mains, only allowing it to throttle back when on battery power).

I don't know whether there would be any benefit to having some kind of "air duct" with a fan to bring cooler air up from floor level to the underside of the laptop/cooling pad. You'd have to measure the air temperature at floor and desk level to see if there is any difference worth exploiting. (Of course, a desktop could simply be put on the floor.)

Stephen

Johnny_Rook · Sep 8, 2016

molletts :

Johnny_Rook :

Yikes! 40°C really is quite warm!

A laptop obviously isn't ideal but if it's your only option then you'll have to run with it. An SSD will run cooler than a hard drive and, if the database engine is only using one core, the others should throttle back to their lowest power setting automatically. It would be worth tweaking the Windows power profile so that the graphics is also able to throttle back even when the laptop is running on mains power (I think the default configuration keeps the graphics at full performance when on mains, only allowing it to throttle back when on battery power).

I don't know whether there would be any benefit to having some kind of "air duct" with a fan to bring cooler air up from floor level to the underside of the laptop/cooling pad. You'd have to measure the air temperature at floor and desk level to see if there is any difference worth exploiting. (Of course, a desktop could simply be put on the floor.)

Stephen

Thank You Stephen. I am also researching an alternative to SQL Server Express. May be DB2 Express or PostgreSQL.Checked the Graphics settings. It is on Balanced.

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Help needed for Hardware Upgrade in order to bring the batch time down by 50%

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