How Much Memory Does a Database/File/Print/Terminal/Web Server Need?

Performance/Sizing
Published Jul 19, 2009

Here are some very simple guidelines that help determine how much memory a particular server actually needs in order to perform well. Of course, these are just rules of thumb, but nevertheless they might come in handy.

Database servers (also domain controllers): The database should fit into physical RAM with some to spare.
File servers: The more, the better. Add RAM until response times under heavy load are a little faster than strictly required.
Print servers: Not much RAM is needed. 4 GB should be more than enough for typical systems.
Terminal servers (with or without Citrix): Add RAM until you cannot increase the user density any more without affecting responsiveness.
Web servers: All frequently accessed content should fit into physical RAM with some to spare.

Memory Performance Server Terminal Services

Comments

Comments are powered by Giscus. Please enable JavaScript to view them, or view discussions directly on GitHub.

Related Posts

What are Slow Logons and Where Do They Come From?

What are Slow Logons and Where Do They Come From?

Considering the importance of fast logons for a good user experience there is surprisingly little information on the subject. Windows does not even record the total logon time, let alone where it is spent. Administrators wishing to analyze their users’ logons are left in the dark. But that can be changed.

Performance/Sizing

Four Ways to Increase the Capacity of Your Citrix XenApp Farm

Even with the most meticulous design, the day will come when your farm’s capacity is not sufficient any more. User numbers increase, applications become more resource-hungry and the amount of data to be handled increases steadily. So what do you do? Simply more of the same, i.e. buy more servers and add them to the farm? That is one way of increasing capacity, but it is not the only one and therefore may not be the best.

Performance/Sizing

Comparing the CPU Performance of Physical and Virtual PCs (VDI)

When you move users from a physical PC to a VDI environment you may find that they are not too happy with their new machine’s performance - it happened to me. To quantify things I took a series of measurements comparing the old PCs we migrated away from with both VDI machines and the new PCs available to some.

Citrix/Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Services

Analyzing a Slow Boot with Windows Performance Recorder & Analyzer

Analyzing a Slow Boot with Windows Performance Recorder & Analyzer

In the last five years Xperf has gained popularity as an administrator’s secret weapon for battling all kinds of performance issues. But just when it was on the brink of becoming as mainstream as such a tool can be, Microsoft superseded it by something else: Windows Performance Recorder.

Performance/Sizing

Latest Posts

Sambee 1.0: Secure, Browser-Based File Management for PCs, Phones & Tablets

Sambee 1.0: Secure, Browser-Based File Management for PCs, Phones & Tablets

Sambee 1.0 is now available! This milestone marks the end of the beta and pre-release phases. What Is Sambee? Sambee turns your existing storage into a modern workspace - no migration, syncing, or cloud required.

Filebrowser to Be Archived. Migrate to a Modern Alternative: Sambee

Filebrowser to Be Archived. Migrate to a Modern Alternative: Sambee

Filebrowser is being archived. As the author writes, the codebase dates back to when he was but 15 years old. Having created such a popular file management tool is a more than impressive achievement for anyone, let alone a teenager. However, when it comes to security and reliability, Filebrowser seems to be built on a less than ideal foundation, so much so that the author states:

Home Automation, Networking & Self-Hosting

Auditing Samba File & Directory Changes With Elasticsearch

Auditing Samba File & Directory Changes With Elasticsearch

This article explains how to set up an auditing (change-tracking) system for Samba file shares that shows who created, deleted, or changed a file or directory and when. The solution is optimized for security, high performance, and low maintenance.

Home Automation, Networking & Self-Hosting

Samba & SMB Web Access Through Sambee With Automatic HTTPS & OIDC SSO

Samba & SMB Web Access Through Sambee With Automatic HTTPS & OIDC SSO

This article explains how to set up Sambee in a Docker container as a web interface for browser-based access to a Samba or SMB file server, complete with automatic HTTPS certificates (via Caddy) and OpenID Connect single sign-on (via Authelia).

Home Automation, Networking & Self-Hosting