Should SQL Server be on the same machine as your IIS installation? [closed]

Answer 1

For very sensitive sites, the advantage of separate servers with firewalls between them can be useful but it brings a number of issues.

1. Performance of queries on split IIS - SQL servers can run very slow due to the need to pass data across the network, also DNS may still be a factor even with servers 2 feet apart, so there maybe some work to do to get an applications to work as well split.
2. Management. It maybe obvious but its 2 servers, 2 windows licenses and the management that's involved and the complexity of traversing firewalls.

Split server recommendations:

1. Install a gigabit LAN between servers.
2. Optimised queries to run as stored procedures instead
3. Optimise queries to only return the minimum amount of data.
4. Make sure interserver addressing uses the IP address or effective DNS lookup.
5. Give the SQL loads of memory sufficient for temporary results.