SQL Server 2000 Consolidation: a business case

Phase 4—test and measurement
Before servers are actually consolidated in the production environment, the entire migration needs to
be built and tested, including all of the new procedures and tools. The capacity and capability of the
test environment chosen should be the same as—or similar to—the final production environment.
However, the test environment may be constrained by factors such as budget or resources. The
important goals of this phase are to isolate, identify, document, and fix any defects, errors, or
problems that are encountered, so the upcoming production effort will hopefully be flawless. Devising
proper test plans will help ensure a successful production rollout.
Another key aspect of this phase is the use of stress-test tools to build data around the capacity of
each server model. Stress tools such as ACT, DBScaler
®
(a proprietary SQL Server stress tool offered
by Scalability Experts), or any third-party tools that may be appropriate may be used to test
sustainability of the consolidated platform.
The test and measurement phase should include the following testing techniques:
• Load testing—Use load testing to verify application behavior under normal and peak load
conditions. This allows you to verify that your application can meet your desired performance
objectives. Load testing can be accomplished using third-party tools such as WinRunner or
LoadRunner.
• Stress testing—Use stress testing to evaluate your application’s behavior when it is pushed beyond
the normal or peak load conditions. The goal of stress testing is to unearth application bugs that
surface only under high load conditions. Stress testing can be accomplished using third-party tools
such as WAS or ACT.
• Capacity testing—Capacity testing is complementary to load testing. It determines your server’s
ultimate failure point, whereas load testing monitors results at various levels of load and traffic
patterns. You perform capacity testing in conjunction with capacity planning. Capacity testing can
be accomplished using third-party tools such as WAS or ACT.
Phase 5—deployment
The deployment phase starts with a pilot, followed by a go-live plan. Finally, the deployed servers are
monitored, and baselining information is collected to provide for proactive monitoring.
Deploying the pilot
The pilot should be started within the development environment to avoid the unnecessary risk of losing
customer data or customer data access that the production environment inherently carries.
The initial consolidation test group can be selected on the basis of the following criteria:
• Consolidation matrix groupings
• Most homogeneous group
• Likelihood of success
• Balance between greatest consolidation potential and lowest complexity
• Grouping representative of typical servers in development and production
• Avoidance of complex issues such as clustering, named instances, replication, and log shipping
• Performance measurements
Deploying the go-live plan
The go-live plan comprises the following steps:
1. Prepare and complete a pre-go-live plan and checklist.
2. Go live.
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