Sql server 2k5 slower on Win 7 than on Vista

  • Last Week my development PC, a Dell XPS M1730 notebook was upgraded from Vista 32 bit to Win 7 Enterprise 64 bit with Sql Server Developer Edition 64 bit SP 3. One of the sql scripts I have run regularly on the same database over the last 6 months took 15 to 15.5 mins on the old setup. When I ran it the first time after the upgrade I killed the script after 35 mins. I then proceeded to do some minor tweaks. I adjusted the OS to to allocate more resources to background processes and I set the database instance to boost SQL server priority. I think these two modifications also existed in the previous environment. Everything else is stock standard. My script now completes in 18 mins 51 secs, still approx 3.5 mins slower than before. Given that my OS recognises now all 4 GB of RAM and runs on twice as many bits I would have expected a slight improvement rather than a slow down.

    I noticed that Win 7 has a mechanism called Data Execution Prevention (DEP). Do I need to exclude sql services explicitly. Can anyone recommend further tweaks, for example to processors and threads? Has anyone else had similar experiences after upgrading to Win 7?

    Thanks in advance.

    Cheers,

    Win

  • win (3/26/2010)


    Last Week my development PC, a Dell XPS M1730 notebook was upgraded from Vista 32 bit to Win 7 Enterprise 64 bit with Sql Server Developer Edition 64 bit SP 3. One of the sql scripts I have run regularly on the same database over the last 6 months took 15 to 15.5 mins on the old setup. When I ran it the first time after the upgrade I killed the script after 35 mins. I then proceeded to do some minor tweaks. I adjusted the OS to to allocate more resources to background processes and I set the database instance to boost SQL server priority. I think these two modifications also existed in the previous environment. Everything else is stock standard. My script now completes in 18 mins 51 secs, still approx 3.5 mins slower than before. Given that my OS recognises now all 4 GB of RAM and runs on twice as many bits I would have expected a slight improvement rather than a slow down.

    I noticed that Win 7 has a mechanism called Data Execution Prevention (DEP). Do I need to exclude sql services explicitly. Can anyone recommend further tweaks, for example to processors and threads? Has anyone else had similar experiences after upgrading to Win 7?

    Thanks in advance.

    Cheers,

    Win

    4gig of ram in a x64 box is the base because my x86 can use 4gig of ram, and Windows 7 Enterprise is almost a server because come hosting companies provide it. And when code takes 15 minutes to run in development I think you need to go back to design and either rewrite or look of alternative access of such data.

    Kind regards,
    Gift Peddie

  • Have you excluded the data directories from virus scanning? How about rebuilding all indexes on the instance which is installed?

    That said - unless it's really large - I'd agree with Gift - you might have a problem with your script as well.

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  • Let's keep in mind we are comparing client OS's. There are so many things that corporate PC/LAN add's to clients. It's an interesting comparison in theory, but not quite like looking at Server 2003 v Server 2008.

    What did they add when you were upgraded, my work PC is always killed by BESClient (uses about 25% CPU for 5 minutes and runs every 15). I'd run something like sysinternal's Process Explorer to see if memory or CPU are different. Remember, ultimately SS is designed to run on a server OS, a client OS is useful for debugging scripts, but not performance testing (that's why we provide developer's with dev boxes ). There are too many things that run on a client OS to be able to make any decent judgement.

    Just for kick and giggles, try stopping un-needed services and see how performance changes. You might be surprised how many extra services will kill performance especially when CPU cycles are at a premium.

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  • Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. I am not worried about the original execution time of 15 mins. The script migrates data from an old module to an updated module with totally different implementation. As far as I can tell the new set up did not introduce new processes, unless Win 7-64 runs more services than Vista-32 by default. I'll sit down with our sys admin and see how many services we can possibly cull form the list or running processes. We use BitDefender as antivirus sw. I shall see if I can exclude the sql server data folders from scanning. Keep in mind that none of this kind of optimisation was ever done previously to my machine. That really puts Vista ahead in the execution speed stakes.

    Cheers,

    Win

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