Disk estimation for Sterling Call Center
About this task
The estimation methodology consists of three parts:
- Estimate the number of orders and order lines you expect to keep in the database.
- Multiply the number obtained in the previous step by a storage usage factor.
- Add a minimum base amount.
Keep the following information in mind before calculating the estimated disk space:
- Gather information about the amount of time required to maintain the database, such
as:
- How long do you plan to keep data in the main transactional database before orders are purged to the history database?
- How long are orders kept in the history database before they are purged?
- Are you purchasing the storage for the first few years into the implementation?
Use the following examples to help answer these questions:
- Case 1 - You need to purchase storage for the first 3 years of the
implementation, and your company's data retention policy says that you have to keep data online in
the main transactional database for 1 year and in the history database for another 5 years. Orders
that are older than 6 years are purged from the system.
The following solution lets you achieve this goal:
If you need to purchase storage to cover the first 3 years of implementation, that storage has to be sufficient for 3 years worth of data. At the end of year 3, your database has the data for the third year in the main transactional database while the data for the first and second years is in the history. In this example, you should enter the number 3 as the number of years worth of orders that you expect to keep in the database.
- Case 2 - Sterling Call Center
has been in production for 10 years and your
company's data retention policy says that you have to keep data online in the main transactional
database for 1 year and in the history database for another 5 years. Orders that are older than 6
years are purged from the system. Given the same data retention policy as above, how much storage is
required?
At the end of the tenth year, the database has the data for the tenth year in the main transactional database and the data for the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth years in the history. Therefore, the database has six years (as dictated by the data retention policy) in the database. In this example, you should enter the number 6 as the number of years worth of orders that you expect to be kept in the database.
- The order in the table below includes sales, transfer, return, and work orders.
- This storage estimate is for work-in-progress tables that are used as part of order
processing. When the orders are processed, the records in these tables can be purged from the
system. These tables include the
YFS_IMPORT,YFS_EXPORT, and so forth. You are strongly urged to aggressively purge data from these tables. - When procuring your storage, ensure that the storage device has at least the amount of usable space specified in Step 8 of the table below. This table provides an idea of the usable space for the storage device in your company. However, the actual amount you might require is a factor of Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) set up. This disk subsystem is composed of more than one disk drive to provide improved reliability, response time, and storage capacity.
Use the following worksheet to help you estimate required disk space.
| 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 Call Center
system: (a) 30 KB - This is primarily used for Sterling Order Management System Software with very little customization. (b) 35 KB - This is primarily used for Sterling Order Management System Software 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 Call Center . | 500 MB |
| 9. | Enter the total estimated storage obtained by adding the values from Step 6, Step 7, and Step 8. | ___________ |
- Table space - derived in Step 9 in the table.
- 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.
- Temporary space - this space is based on the products you are implementing. For example,
if you are deploying only Sterling Order Management System Software,
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 Business Intelligence or Business Intelligence Operational Reports, more space is required for data warehousing and moving large amounts of data among multiple databases. For more information, see Disk sizing.
- Log space - estimate 10% of the total amount of space calculated in Steps 1, 2, and 3.