Spotlight - SQL LiteSpeed Return on Investment

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1 Spotlight - SQL Return on Investment March 12, 2003 Written by: Greg Robidoux Edgewood Solutions

2 2 Introduction When evaluating a product in the IT industry some of the most impressive product figures from a managerial perspective are related to the return on investment (ROI). Too often the perception from management is that an affinity for a product is related to being the latest and greatest technology versus delivering cost savings and value to the organization. This article addresses tangible cost savings via the following items: Scenario 1-10 SQL Server environment locally attached tape drives Scenario 2 5 SQL Server environment centralized backups Additional ROI Calculations Note - For further cost savings information, contact Edgewood Solutions at for a customized assessment of the SQL savings based on the unique characteristics of your organization.

3 3 Scenario 1 Decentralized SQL Server s For organizations tape drives attached to individual SQL Servers, below outlines the cost savings of an organization 10 dual processor SQL Servers. With a total three year investment of $10, in SQL a company would save $34, over that three year period. TAPE DRIVE PER SERVER SCENARIO Servers 10 2-CPU Servers Rotations 22 per server yearly Traditional Size 50 GB Size 10 GB Per Server $645 Maintenance 20% Disk Per Server GB Speed 36 15K $ $1, $ $ $6, Per Server Per Year Annual GB Type 40 DLT $ $ $59.00 $1, $12, st year savings of disk space 1st year savings 40GB DLT tapes 2nd year savings 40GB DLT tapes 3rd year savings 40GB DLT tapes and Disk $6, $12, $12, $12, $45, st year cost 2nd year cost 3rd year cost $7, $1, $1, $10, year savings $34, Notes: This does not factor in savings for offsite storage costs This does not factor in savings for onsite storage space

4 4 Scenario 2 Centralized SQL Server s For organizations centralized SQL Servers backups, below outlines the cost savings of an organization 5 quad-processor SQL Servers. With a total three year investment of $8, in SQL a company would save $24, over that three year period. CENTRALIZED TAPE MANAGEMENT Servers Rotations Traditional Size Size Per Server $1,095 Maintenance 20% Disk 5 4-CPU Servers 22 yearly 500 GB 100 GB Per Server GB Speed 36 15K $ $8, $1, $6, $6, Per Year Annual GB Type 110 SDLT $ $ $ $8, $8, st year savings of disk space 1st year savings 110GB DLT tapes 2nd year savings 110GB DLT tapes 3rd year savings 110GB DLT tapes and Disk $6, $8, $8, $8, $33, st year cost 2nd year cost 3rd year cost 3 year savings $6, $1, $1, $8, $24, Notes: This does not factor in savings for offsite storage costs This does not factor in savings for onsite storage space

5 5 Additional ROI Calculations When comparing SQL to existing backup solutions, it is feasible to efficiently and accurately determine the cost savings based on the volume of servers, database size and tape costs. The two previous charts accurately outline these savings. In conjunction these predictable calculations, it is necessary to aggregate the costs of the following items that differ among companies in order to determine a comprehensive ROI. Additional ROI factors include: Offsite tape storage SQL reduces the number of tapes needed for daily backup processes and therefore reduces the costs for offsite tape storage. Onsite storage space SQL reduces the number of tapes needed for a daily backup and therefore reduces the number of tapes needed on-site. handling By reducing the large volume of tapes for daily backups, the reduction of mistakes caused by mislabeling, filing, etc will be improved. Network bandwidth Since there is always a need to copy database backups to other servers for testing restores, refreshing test environments, etc., the reduced size of the backup file will reduce the network bandwidth required to complete the operations. Faster backups SQL maximizes critical time for other Database processes, index rebuilds, data loads, etc. by rapidly completing backups. Tunable backup SQL permits configurable backup and restorations depending on the system resources being utilized to tune the backup appropriate settings. This ability allows the backup to execute optimally capabilities not available any other product. Faster restores In the event of a critical disaster when working through the recovery process every minute counts. By using SQL your restore process is faster then the native process and much faster then a tape restore. s on disk for faster Disaster Recovery By having SQL Server backups readily available on disk, it is not necessary to worry about handling tapes when performing a restoration. The smaller backup size allows you to keep multiple copies of the backup on disk in case it is necessary to revert to a previous restore. Allows extra time to run Verify option With the increased time savings for your backup you now have time to verify your backup was a good backup. In most cases the verify takes as long as the backup. Now that the backup time has been cut in half you can use that time savings to run the verify process to validate the integrity to the backup. DBAs are control of database backups - Ability to execute the backups via T-SQL Jobs in SQL Server Agent or as needed in Query Analyzer rather than an unfamiliar tool that is external to SQL Server. Redundant copies With compression storage savings up to 80% you have the ability to save 5 distinct copies in the same space. Simplification of tape backup process - Standardization for DBA s by only having to be knowledgeable one backup product. Encryption 128 bit encryption protects your backups on disk and tape, internal and external to your organization. Integration - Ability to integrate existing backup hardware and software, so a company experiences no sunk costs, but rather enhances the existing backup solution. For additional information please see Integrating SQL in your existing Infrastructure

6 6 Reduce staff wait time Due to faster backups, network copies and restores, DBAs spend less time waiting for processes to finish. As such this provides DBAs more time for additional tasks. Conclusion The savings defined in the above two scenarios is significant based on recurring disk and tape costs. As additional ROI calculations are factored into the equation the overall value derived by SQL becomes much greater to organizations. For further cost savings information, contact Edgewood Solutions at for a customized assessment of the SQL savings based on the unique characteristics of your organization. About the Author - Greg Robidoux Greg Robidoux is the founder of Edgewood Solutions a database solutions company in the United States and is currently the Vice Chair of the PASS DBA Special Interest Group. He has 14 years of IT experience and has been working databases for the last 10 years the past four years of that SQL Server. Greg s primary areas of focus are setting standards, disaster recovery, security and change management controls. In addition to these areas he has experience replication, storage areas networks and SQL Server upgrades. Greg can be reached at gregr@edgewoodsolutions.com. Learn more about how Edgewood Solutions can deliver databases at their finest at Copyright Edgewood Solutions All Rights Reserved Some names and products listed are the registered trademarks of their respective owners.