SDE configuration

[KirkBecker]

We haven't installed SDE on server 10.1 with SQL 2008 R2.  In order to maximize efficiency of SDE do the GDB need to reside physically on the same server as SDE or can the GDB be on another server?  How do we optimize SDE? 

Thanks

[MarcoBoeringa]

With SDE, I guess you mean you are contemplating installing an ArcSDE Application Server? Note ESRI currently pushes for Direct Connect as the default connection method to a geodatabase, eleminating the need for installing an ArcSDE Application Server. This doesn't mean you can't install and run one, but be aware of this. Also note the standard "Database Connections" option in ArcCatalog at 10.1 no longer supports connecting to an Application Server. You will need to use the new specific "Create ArcSDE Connection File" tool for that.

See this Help topic:
Making an ArcSDE service connection from ArcGIS

As to the question of running the Application Server from another server than the database server, unless you run a >= 10Gbit ethernet network connection between the servers, your Application Server will likely be limited by the network bandwidth. Even a single modern 7200 harddisk of an ordinary desktop computer can throughput over 160-180MB/s (not even talking about server RAID configurations), which equates to over 1,5Gbit/s, which means a 1Gbit (or worse) ethernet connection may prove a bottleneck.

[VinceAngelo]

Marco, it's not the relative bandwidth to the server which makes remote application
servers inefficient, it's the network contention as the client talks to the appserver
while the appserver talks the the database server...  Once you get more than a
handful of clients, you're looking at a pretty impressive network storm.  This
can be moderated by an exotic network switch, but that money would be better
spent adding RAM to clients so they can use Direct Connect effectively.

- V