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Configuration guidelines for Linux and Windows based servers.
This information is provided as a guideline and review of third party hardware specifications should be made before final hardware acquisition.
Guidelines for Oracle SPARC based installations can be found in the Learn Hardware Guidelines for Oracle SPARC help topic.
| Sizing Category | Standard | Advanced | Complex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | The Standard sizing configuration is designed for availability and performance. Options exist for both physical distributions of application servers and/or virtualized instances of the application. The institution has minimal deployment of distance learning or connected classroom initiatives (less than 5%). | The Advanced sizing configuration is designed for high-availability and high-performance. The model is designed for heavy adoption of the product across institutions of varying sizes. Customers deploying distance learning programs or with connected classroom initiatives to a portion of the community fall into this category. | The Complex sizing configuration is designed for massive adoption, high-availability, and high-performance. Customers deploying predominately distance learning programs or with connected classroom initiatives fall into this category. Customers with larger community sizes (greater than 250,000 users) fall into this category. |
| Application Server Configuration | |||
| Number of OS Instances (Physical or Virtual) |
2 to 4 | 4 to 8 | 8 to 16 |
| Minimum CPU Configuration Per OS Instance | 2 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® 5520 series (2.26Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1066MHz Max Memory) |
2 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® 5520 series (2.26Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1066MHz Max Memory) |
2 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® 5520 series (2.26Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1066MHz Max Memory) |
| 2 CPU Virtualization Collapse Ratio (VMs to Physical Server) | 4:1 with Hyper-Threading OFF | 4:1 with Hyper-Threading OFF | 4:1 with Hyper-Threading OFF |
| Ideal CPU Configuration Per OS Instance | 4 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® X5550 (2.66Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1333MHz Max Memory) |
4 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® X5550 (2.66Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1333MHz Max Memory) |
4 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® X5550 (2.66Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1333MHz Max Memory) |
| 4 CPU Virtualization Collapse Ratio (VMs to Physical Server | 2:1 with Hyper-Threading OFF -or- 4:1 with Hyper-Threading ON |
2:1 with Hyper-Threading OFF -or- 4:1 with Hyper-Threading ON |
2:1 with Hyper-Threading OFF -or- 4:1 with Hyper-Threading ON |
| 32-bit Memory Requirements Per OS Instance | 4GB to 8GB | 4GB to 8GB | 4GB to 8GB |
| 64-bit Memory Requirements Per OS Instance | 8GB to 16GB recommended | 8GB to 16GB recommended | 8GB to 16GB recommended |
| I/O Workload at Peak Hour | 300 to 500 I/Os | 500 to 1000 I/Os | 1000 to 2000 I/Os |
| Hits/Hour at Peak Hour | Up to 4 Million Hits/Hour | Up to 8 Million Hits/Hour | Up to 12 Million Hits/Hour |
| Characteristics | With 4 CPU threads per instance and a 64-bit deployment across 4 instances, this configuration will support as many as 20,000 concurrent sessions for a peak hour. A concurrent session is a user who has logged into the application within the last hour. With 2 CPU threads per instance and a 32-bit deployment across 4 instances, this configuration will support approximately 2,000 concurrent sessions. Results will vary depending on the use of memory intensive areas of the application, such as Assessment and Grade Center.Memory has the greatest impact on the session concurrency and responsiveness of the application, followed by CPU capacity. Consider a larger memory footprint for even smaller workloads to deliver faster page responsiveness. |
With 4 CPU threads per instance and a 64-bit deployment across 4 instances, this configuration will support as many as 40,000 concurrent sessions for a peak hour. A concurrent session is a user who has logged into the application within the last hour. With 2 CPU threads per instance and a 32-bit deployment across 4 instances, this configuration will support approximately 4,000 concurrent sessions. Results will vary depending on the use of memory intensive areas of the application, such as Assessment and Grade Center.Memory has the greatest impact on the session concurrency and responsiveness of the application, followed by CPU capacity. Consider a larger memory footprint for even smaller workloads to deliver faster page responsiveness. |
With 4 CPU threads per instance and a 64-bit deployment across 4 instances, this configuration will support as many as 80,000 concurrent sessions for a peak hour. A concurrent session is a user who has logged into the application within the last hour. With 2 CPU threads per instance and a 32-bit deployment across 4 instances, this configuration will support approximately 8,000 concurrent sessions. Results will vary depending on the use of memory intensive areas of the application such as Assessment and Grade Center.Memory has the greatest impact on the session concurrency and responsiveness of the application, followed by CPU capacity. Consider a larger memory footprint for even smaller workloads to deliver faster page responsiveness. |
| Database Server Configuration | |||
| Minimum CPU Configuration | 4 to 8 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® 5520 series (2.26Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1066MHz Max Memory) |
8 to 16 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® 5520 series (2.26Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1066MHz Max Memory) |
16 to 24 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® 5520 series (2.26Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1066MHz Max Memory) |
| Ideal CPU Configuration | 8 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® X5570 (2.93Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1333MHz Max Memory) |
16 CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® X5570 (2.93Ghz , 8M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1333MHz Max Memory) |
24+ CPU Threads Intel® Xeon® X7460 (2.67GHz, 16M Cache, 1066Mhz FSB) |
| Memory Requirements | 8GB to 16GB | 16GB to 48GB | 48GB to 96GB |
| I/O Workload at Peak Hour | 600 to 1,200 I/Os | 1,500 to 3,000 I/Os | 4,500 to 10,000 I/Os |
| Availability Approach | Failover clustering approaches that leverage Active/Passive database configurations should be considered for this deployment. | Failover clustering approaches that leverage Active/Passive database configurations should be considered for this deployment. Linux deployments may consider Oracle® Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC). | Failover clustering approaches that leverage Active/Passive database configurations should be considered for this deployment. Linux deployments should consider Oracle® Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC). |
| Oracle Memory Requirements | |||
| Estimated SGA Size | 1GB to 4GB | 4GB to 16GB | 16GB to 32GB |
| Processes | 600 to 1,200 | 2,000 to 4,000 | 5,000 to 10,000 |
| Estimated Process Size | 3M to 7M | 3M to 7M | 3M to 7M |
| Estimated PGA Memory | 2GB to 8GB | 10GB to 20GB | 25GB to 50GB |
