SQL Server Running on Windows Server Core
Windows Server Core is a Microsoft Windows Server deployment option reducing the overhead of the Windows Server operating system in a targeted fashion by installing and enabling only the minimum required components for the server to perform necessary tasks.
For a machine dedicated to the single purpose of hosting SQL Server, this would be a great environment…fewer resources are used to provide non-essential resources, leaving them available to do meaningful work of hosting SQL Server.
Windows Server Core was stripped of the Windows Explorer (GUI) interface relying primariliy on DOS commands or remote tools to perform all work. This allows the OS to compete more closely in performance with UNIX like operating systems having a streamlined operational capability. PowerShell may also be installed, but is not a default feature.
I had not looked at Windows Server Core for years because it could not host SQL Server as I recall, and I may be wrong on this. Regardless, with Server Core deployments of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and higher, SQL Server 2012 is now supported in an optimized GUI free hosting environment.
So, DBAs wanting the most power available for their database engine need to bone up on their PowerShell and command line skills once again to take advantage of SQL 2012 features, and manage SQL Server in a world without the GUI.
Is this a deployment option for the elite alone? What would cause you to consider running SQL Server on top of Windows Server Core implementations? Send your thoughts to btaylor@sswug.org.
Cheers,
Ben
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