SQL Server Hardware - Red Gate Software

Chapter 5: Operating System Selection and Configuration
costs for upgrading to these new versions would be zero. Buying a new server means you
can get the server racked, the OS installed and patched, and configured, and SQL Server
installed, patched, and configured in a low risk and low stress manner. You can also offset,
or in some cases more than cover, the upgrade cost by exploiting the new hardware and
software features to, for example:
• move from a four-socket machine down to a two-socket machine, reducing SQL
Server license costs considerably while obtaining better performance and scalability
than your old four-socket machine
• take advantage of opportunities for server consolidation or virtualization.
Overall, a new database server, running the latest versions of SQL Server and Windows
Server, will serve you so much better than a 3–4 year old server, from every perspective.
I would argue that you should be pushing your organization to upgrade sooner rather
than later.
Installing Windows Server and Service Packs
When Microsoft releases a new version of Windows Server, the initial build is called the
Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build of the operating system. It is what you get on the
installation media when you buy a copy of the operating system. At some point, usually
between 12–18 months after the release of the RTM, Microsoft will release Service Pack 1
(SP1) for that version of the operating system. A Service Pack will include all of the previously
released hot-fixes, and will sometimes include some new features for the operating
system. For example, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 added the new Dynamic Memory
feature, as discussed earlier.
During the period after RTM, but before SP1, Microsoft will release hot-fixes for the
operating system, through Windows Update. If you also install the optional Microsoft
Update components (a superset of Windows Update), you will also receive updates,
166