You’re setting up a new instance of SQL Server on a new machine, virtual or self hosted. What are the first things you need to do? Here is a basic checklist you might use.
- Create the service accounts for the various services hosted by SQL Server. Here is a list of some I have used:
- SQL Service account
- SQL Agent Account
- Backup Account
- Batch Processing Account
My preference is to create these accounts in Active directory. If that isn’t available, you can create windows accounts for these services to operate under
- Isolate TempDb files if possible
- Create a separate data file for each core up to Eight. See advice online if you have many more cores, and feel that 8 files may not be enough
- If you have separate disks, isolate TempDb transaction log file
- Pre-allocate file space…don’t rely on auto growth for TempDb
- Create directories for your data files, and grant the appropriate permissions to the necessary service accounts.
- Backup account read/write backup directory
- Service account read TempDb, data files, and transaction file directories
- SQL Agent account read the necessary directories
- Install SQL Server and configure with your directories and services
- Use Windows Account for Administration
- Disable SA account if possible
- Create/Add User Accounts, preferably from Active Directory groups or users
- Create/Mount databases
- Backup master database
- Configure maintenance and backup schedules
- Configure Full Text services if they are being used
That’s a basic checklist I use when setting up SQL Server for the first time on a new install. Follow that along with the installation wizard for SQL Server and you’ll have a nice head start. I know I wrote a number of tasks as a short sentence, for which whole articles have been written. For example, Configure Maitnenance and Backp Schedules. Be sure to research those topics thoroughly, or get some support or mentoring.
Cheers,
Ben