Disk estimation for Sterling Warehouse Management System

About this task

Estimate the disk space you will need for Sterling Warehouse Management System.

The estimation methodology consists of three parts:

  1. Estimate the number of orders and order lines you expect to keep in the database.
  2. Multiply the number obtained in the previous step by a storage usage factor.
  3. Add a minimum base amount.

Keep the following information in mind before calculating the estimated disk space:

Use the following worksheet to help you estimate required disk space.

Table 1. Steps for disk space estimation for theSterling Distributed Order Management module
Step Description Disk Space
1. Enter the number of years' worth of information to be kept in the system (retention time). ___________
2. Enter the number of orders you expect to be in the system during the time period specified in Step 1. ___________
3. Enter the number of order lines present in a typical order. ___________
4. Enter the number of order lines that are to be stored in the database (multiply the values provided in Step 2 and Step 3). ___________
5. Enter the order line multiplier: Choose one of the following storage factors that most closely approximates a description of your Sterling Warehouse Management System system:

(a) 30 KB - This is primarily used for order management with very little customization.

(b) 35 KB - This is primarily used for order management with moderate amount of customization.

___________
6. Multiply the expected number of order lines from Step 4 and the storage factor from Step 5. ___________
7. The minimum base storage requirement. 150 MB
8. The minimum operational storage requirements for Sterling Warehouse Management System. 500 MB
9. Enter the total estimated storage obtained by adding the values from Step 6, Step 7, and Step 8. ___________
The value you calculate in Step 9 represents the disk space required for database tables. Additional space is also necessary for index, log, and temporary space requirements. Following are the recommended steps for calculating these:
  1. Table space - derived in Step 9, above.
  2. Index space - plan to allow the same amount of space as you calculated for tables. For example, if your database tables require 4 GB, add another 4 GB for index space. You may want to factor in an additional 10-20% for good measure.
  3. Temporary space - this space is based on the products you are implementing. For example, if you are deploying only Sterling Warehouse Management System, this space should be at least double the size of the largest database table in your environment. If your largest table is 1 GB, plan on at least 2 GB for temporary space.

    If you are installing additional products, such as Sterling Business Intelligence or Sterling Business Intelligence Operational Reports, more space is required for data warehousing and moving large amounts of data among multiple databases. Consult the Sterling Business Intelligence topic "Disk Sizing" for this information.

  4. Log space - estimate 10% of the total amount of space calculated in Steps 1, 2, and 3.
Note: After you calculate the total amount of space required for tables, indexes, temporary space, and logs in your database, automatic storage is the optimal choice for managing this total space. Given the maximum size for your database, automatic storage dynamically uses and frees up space as some logs and temporary spaces come and go, making unused space available to tables and indexes.