Ram, hard drive and cpu setup on FileMaker Server

[sal88]

This is kind of an open question about the recommended, and cost effective hardware configuration for FileMaker Server on Azure.

We have a 30 user 10gb database, plus 40gb (270,000 files and 850,000 folders) of secure externally stored container fields.
It is hosted on FileMaker Server 19.4.2.204, on Windows Server 2019 hosted on Azure, with 16gb ram, Xeon 8171M @ 2.60Ghz, D4s_v3.
The database is accessed over WAN, and end user speed is great.

Since we have switched to secure external container storage, the FMS backups are quicker, it takes an hour, but our remote backup software (Ahsay - which backs up just one copy of the database daily - FMS backs it up with a retention of 1) causes memory spikes, which, if coinciding with a file transfer or other intensive task, seems to max out the memory which results in being shut out of the Admin Console and WebDirect not working; occasionally it can also result in some plugins not working. I usually have to force restart the server and hope that the database doesn't corrupt - thankfully it doesn't seem to with the latest version of FMS.

There were a few successful and swift (2 hours) remote backups but it usually gets to six hours and then gives up. FMS also often reports CPU spikes 80%. Being locked out of the Admin Console did actually occur before the move to external secure container storage, but it was much rarer that it is now.

So obviously it's in a bit of precarious state during backups.

We added a separate hard drive for the the remote backup cache, which was a vast improvement - but it's now in the state described above.

So we are going to double the ram from 16gb to 32gb - I'm hoping this will resolve the memory overload issue and result in the remote backup completing in a couple of hours.

While we're performing the upgrade we thought we'd review the hard drive usage.

We currently have the following drives:

• C: (OS) FileMaker Server is installed on this
• F: (FileMaker) Live database - premium SSD
• E: (FileMaker Backups)
• G: (Ahsay remote backup cache)

Is it even worth having the C and F drives separate? From what I've read there's mention that the backup drive should be separate, but I don't see any recommendation to have a separate drive for the live databases. It would save money if we just combined the two.

Is premium SSD worth it? Should the backup drive, or the Ahsay cache be premium SSD too? Or would it be worth upgrading to Ultra ones? Would this negate the need to upgrade the ram? Or should I think about upgrading the CPU?

Any thoughts or experiences regarding the above issues would be most welcome.

Edited January 25, 2022 by sal88

[sal88]

Here's an update on what I did, I hope someone finds it useful:

• Upgraded the server to 32gb ram and Intel Xeon Platinum 8272CL @2.60ghz
  • This resolved all memory overload problems, the server is now unbreakable, I tested by running multiple file transfers and backups.
• 128gb OS drive (standard SSD) to remain separate
• Separate 128gb drive for FileMaker database - it needs to be Premium SSD. Barely any saving to be made from placing database on OS drive and/or expanding/upgrading OS drive
• Removed the remote backup cache drive - the upgraded VM comes with a larger temporary storage drive which is used instead
• FileMaker backups drive - to remain standard SSD - not much of a saving to be made from splitting off archives to a standard HDD drive
• Azure level snapshots are being run daily - it only takes twenty minutes, but shouldn't make any difference to any other backups running at the same time
• Oddly, backup time are a bit slower since the upgrade, but still within an acceptable timeframe
  • Daily Remote backups (just one backup is uploaded) take around six hours
  • FileMaker Serve backups (10gb database file and 40gb secure containers) can take up to two hours
    • However, I think an hour and a half of this is just for deleting the old backup

Edited February 2, 2022 by sal88