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HomeHomeOur CommunityOur CommunityGeneral Discuss...General Discuss...Help! Feedback on Server CapacitiesHelp! Feedback on Server Capacities
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1/16/2008 4:54 PM
 

I'm looking at a dedicated server and need a general idea of the number of DNN installs I can service with this server.

Each DNN install is going to be a private web app for my client's use instead of the usual web site. Each install will have maybe 15 to 30 total users with probably around 5 users max on the install at the same time. So comparitively speaking I'm guessing this could be considered extremely light use?

The server stats are:

Processor strength:  12 ghz
1gb Ram
Windows Server 2003
SQL Server 2005 AEX
Raid 1 SAS Hard Drives

I would be happy if I could get 70 to 80 installs on the server and have good performance. So if I have a max of 5 users on each install at the same time that's 350 users on 70 DNN installs at the same time server wide. Do you think the above server can handle that?

Additional question - I'm also weighing the difference of using individual DNN installs for the above web apps vs. using child portals.  I had decided to use individual DNN installs instead of child portals so that one child portal could not bring down the entire install for all clients. But my big question now is: will using 70 seperate DNN installs (one for each client) require much greater server resources than 70 child portals would???

Your help/thought/opinions would be greatly appreciated as I need to make a decision on this soon!

Greg

 
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1/16/2008 5:11 PM
 

Greg,

To answer the question regarding server resources.  Yes, 70 DNN installations would take more server resources than 69 child portals in 1 DNN Parent portal. 

Can that server handle 70 DNN installations even with extremely light traffic loads?  I am not sure, as really you will be looking at 70 databases, 70 copies of DNN and overall 70 application pools. 

If you divide the 1 Gb of ram betweent the 70 installs discounting the need for ram for the OS or SQL Server you would need to ensure that no application needed more than 14.29 Mb.  On my local machine, my idle copy of DNN 4.7.0 is using 64Mb of ram.  Doing this math, I would say that you couldn't support 70 installations on that server.

There are many other things to consider though as well, and it all really depends on what you are looking to do for your customers in the end.  Is data isolation 100% necessary?  Is the ability to branch off and export data a must?

If you want to talk about this in more detail post back or e-mail me at mitchel.sellers (at) gmail.com (I don't always notice replies here on DNN.com due to the lack of e-mail notifications and the massive number of posts that I respond to.


-Mitchel Sellers
Microsoft MVP, ASPInsider, DNN MVP
CEO/Director of Development - IowaComputerGurus Inc.
LinkedIn Profile

Visit mitchelsellers.com for my mostly DNN Blog and support forum.

Visit IowaComputerGurus.com for free DNN Modules, DNN Performance Tips, DNN Consulting Quotes, and DNN Technical Support Services
 
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1/17/2008 9:28 AM
 

Mithc is right, RAM alone would drag the server down.  Drive size is also important, as is speed.  RAID1 means two drives mirrored, slower than a single drive or striped drives, and SAS drives won't have 10,000 RPM speeds.  Having SQL on the same box as the web server is also a drag, and spinning up that many databases would probably kill your RAM as well.

Child portals means a single install and a single database, though 70 can be unwieldy.  Performance wise it will use less RAM, thouugh you're still likely to be swapping to disk continuously.  As an example, I have a (or had, it's now almost unused...) 1.8GHz laptop with a 120 MB drive and 2 GB of RAM runningServer 2003,  SQL 2000 Standard and DNN 4.3 with about 30 child portals.  With very light use, 40 users or less on the entire system, response times start to noticeably drop as the system starts paging to disk.  They don't get unbearable except at really peak use, maybe 100-120 users on the system, but this system does little more than serve documents in temporary setups.

I could tune this system and get better performance, but it's being replaced so it's not worth my effort.  Your system should have slightly better performance in some areas, less in others, but this may give you an idea of what you're looking at.  Apps will make a difference as well.  Anything SQL intensive will eat processor cycles, slowing down your system's performance.  Just serving static files will have little effect on RAM or CPU, so you'll do a little better.

Spend you money on RAM first.  Then tune the heck out of your app, system and DNN installation.  Then start looking at what else to upgrade.  The IIS 6 Resource Kit has decent performance guides for tuning IIS and Server 2003, use them.  You may be satisfied, or you may choose to upgrade.

Jeff

 
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1/19/2008 4:21 PM
 

Hi,

Just a thought: it also depends on practical use of these DNN installations. When 70 installations use 350 people and only 10% work simultaneously then only 7 portals is actually alive - in this case server can handle this easily. It depends for what (and how often) your clients will work on server.

Kind regards,

Primoz

 
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1/20/2008 9:17 PM
 

Thanks for the replies!

These answers were a big help!

Greg

 
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