How to install SQL Server 2008 R2 Best practice

In this post I’ll explain how to install SQL Server according to the best practices. In the last few years I have set up best practices for SQL Server. This blog is not a step - by - step guide on how to do this or that. You can find enough information on the web about certain stuff. OK, lets start:

Before the install of SQL Server 2008 R2
1. Install .NET Framework 3.5 or higher and Windows installer 4.5 or higher and run a reboot!

2. Install the latest windows servicepack.

3. Create for every service an Active Directory account. This has a couple of advantages:

• Don't give more permissions needed to a service.
• Locking down specifc access service account on specfic servers.
• isolating a specific problem with an account.
• When some thing is wrong with an account not all services has problems.

4. Install the Windows components for SNMP and WMI (Brent Ozar)

5. Make sure you have a couple of drives for

• data files.
• Log files.
• tempdb.
• pagefile.

6. Make sure that the pagefile is 1,5 x the  memorysize. Read Brent Ozar for more.

7. Configure antivirus software to skip LDF/MDF/NDF files.

After the install of SQL Server 2008 R2

•Move Master DB

•Move TempDB

•Move Model DB

•Move MSDB DB

•Resize TempDB (32 GB data, 16 GB logs), disable autogrowth

•Set default file locations

•Set CPU to boost SQL priority

•Set minimum memory to 6GB

•Set maximum memory to 7GB.

•Configure Database Mail