Can an Optron X2 be used as a SQL server

Hello,
A DBA friend of mine wants to know if he can use an Optron X2 based system
as a SQL server. He tried running:
Win2003 64bit Server
MS SQL 2000 w/SP4
2 Gig of RAM
1 TB HD array.
He wants to process a lot of financial data and use the MS SQL to do it.
When he ran the above setup everything seemed fine but 15 hours later all his
data was corrupted. He said it was the Optron processor's fault as they are
not 100% compatable. He is an experienced DBA.
Questions:
1. Will the above configuration work?
2. My DBA friend said that SP4 only supported Intel chips and would not
work for AMD, is that true? I have looked through the SP4 page and found no
reference to Intel or AMD only updates.
3. Since Win2003 64-bit only runs SQL 2000 SP4 through a 32-bit emulator, is
there an advantage in going with Win2003-64 or would the 32-bit version be
fine?
4. What about the upcomming SQL 2005, will that have native support for
64-bit?
5. Will the Upcomming SQL 2005 on Win2003-64bit Server work with AMD Optron
X2 (Dual Core) Chips? Is there anything Intel Only about the design?
Hello,
If no one can answer this questions directly, can you at least point me into
the right direction. As far as I can tell AMD is 100% compatable with
Win2003 64-bit and SQL 2000 SP4 should work fine, but I am not a DBA and my
friend will not just take my word for it.
Does anyone know how I can get MS to answer these questions?
"Roger Huston" wrote:

> Hello,
> A DBA friend of mine wants to know if he can use an Optron X2 based system
> as a SQL server. He tried running:
> Win2003 64bit Server
> MS SQL 2000 w/SP4
> 2 Gig of RAM
> 1 TB HD array.
> He wants to process a lot of financial data and use the MS SQL to do it.
> When he ran the above setup everything seemed fine but 15 hours later all his
> data was corrupted. He said it was the Optron processor's fault as they are
> not 100% compatable. He is an experienced DBA.
> Questions:
> 1. Will the above configuration work?
> 2. My DBA friend said that SP4 only supported Intel chips and would not
> work for AMD, is that true? I have looked through the SP4 page and found no
> reference to Intel or AMD only updates.
> 3. Since Win2003 64-bit only runs SQL 2000 SP4 through a 32-bit emulator, is
> there an advantage in going with Win2003-64 or would the 32-bit version be
> fine?
> 4. What about the upcomming SQL 2005, will that have native support for
> 64-bit?
> 5. Will the Upcomming SQL 2005 on Win2003-64bit Server work with AMD Optron
> X2 (Dual Core) Chips? Is there anything Intel Only about the design?
|||Changes to SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 4 operating system support
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;898042
Reading this article indicates that SQL 2000 SP4 is specifically compatible
with x64 operating systems running on Opteron processors. My suspicion
would be on the disk subsystem. SQL tends to push a disk system far harder
than any other application.
Here is a tool to stress your disk system and tell whether it can hold up to
SQL Server or not:
How to use the SQLIOStress utility to stress a disk subsystem such as SQL
Server
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;231619
SQL 2005 will run native on x64 architecture instead of in the 32-bit WOW
environment. Note that SQL 2005 has been in development as a native x64 app
for several years and Intel only recently released an x64 processor. That
should give a clue to what environment it must have been developed and
tested on. I would not worry about AMD compatibility going forward.
Geoff N. Hiten
Senior Database Administrator
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
"Roger Huston" <Roger Huston@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:25357B88-5460-4127-B97C-C020F57AD15A@.microsoft.com...
> Hello,
> A DBA friend of mine wants to know if he can use an Optron X2 based system
> as a SQL server. He tried running:
> Win2003 64bit Server
> MS SQL 2000 w/SP4
> 2 Gig of RAM
> 1 TB HD array.
> He wants to process a lot of financial data and use the MS SQL to do it.
> When he ran the above setup everything seemed fine but 15 hours later all
> his
> data was corrupted. He said it was the Optron processor's fault as they
> are
> not 100% compatable. He is an experienced DBA.
> Questions:
> 1. Will the above configuration work?
> 2. My DBA friend said that SP4 only supported Intel chips and would not
> work for AMD, is that true? I have looked through the SP4 page and found
> no
> reference to Intel or AMD only updates.
> 3. Since Win2003 64-bit only runs SQL 2000 SP4 through a 32-bit emulator,
> is
> there an advantage in going with Win2003-64 or would the 32-bit version be
> fine?
> 4. What about the upcomming SQL 2005, will that have native support for
> 64-bit?
> 5. Will the Upcomming SQL 2005 on Win2003-64bit Server work with AMD
> Optron
> X2 (Dual Core) Chips? Is there anything Intel Only about the design?
|||Well, he has a SATA II array. Since this was not a multi-user system more
just plugging through large tables, he thought he could get by with this for
personal work, but I will use your tool just to be sure.
Thanks,
Roger
"Geoff N. Hiten" wrote:

> Changes to SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 4 operating system support
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;898042
> Reading this article indicates that SQL 2000 SP4 is specifically compatible
> with x64 operating systems running on Opteron processors. My suspicion
> would be on the disk subsystem. SQL tends to push a disk system far harder
> than any other application.
> Here is a tool to stress your disk system and tell whether it can hold up to
> SQL Server or not:
> How to use the SQLIOStress utility to stress a disk subsystem such as SQL
> Server
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;231619
> SQL 2005 will run native on x64 architecture instead of in the 32-bit WOW
> environment. Note that SQL 2005 has been in development as a native x64 app
> for several years and Intel only recently released an x64 processor. That
> should give a clue to what environment it must have been developed and
> tested on. I would not worry about AMD compatibility going forward.
> Geoff N. Hiten
> Senior Database Administrator
> Microsoft SQL Server MVP
>
>
> "Roger Huston" <Roger Huston@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:25357B88-5460-4127-B97C-C020F57AD15A@.microsoft.com...
>
>