Hi everyone,

We're currently reviewing our Microvellum SQL Server infrastructure and would really appreciate hearing what other users are running, especially those with larger Foundation Libraries and Work Order databases.

Our current server specifications are:

• Server: Lenovo ThinkSystem ST250

• CPU: Intel Xeon E-2224 @ 3.40 GHz (4 cores / 4 threads)

• RAM: 32 GB DDR4 ECC

• Storage: 7200 RPM HDD

• Network: 1 Gbps

• SQL Server: Microsoft SQL Server

• Database sizes:

  • Microvellum Foundation Library: 150.8 GB

  • MV_Geometry: 45.8 GB

  • MV_WorkOrder: 411.5 GB

  • Total SQL database size: ~608 GB

We have no SQL maintenance plans currently configured (index rebuilds, statistics updates, etc.).

We're experiencing inconsistent performance with report generation, project loading, and work order creation. Sometimes reports generate in seconds, while other times they can take a very long time.

After reviewing our system, a Microvellum technician provided the following feedback:

"After further review, I confirmed that the primary cause is the size of the database. To help improve performance, I recommend that your IT team clean up and archive any old work orders, completed projects, or other unnecessary data to reduce the overall database size. Alternatively, creating a new database may also help alleviate the latency issues. As a general guideline, databases exceeding 150 GB can begin to experience noticeable performance degradation and increased latency for all users accessing the database."

This got me wondering how other shops are managing larger databases and whether hardware upgrades have allowed you to continue running databases well beyond that size without performance issues.

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone willing to share their experience:

1. What server hardware are you running? (CPU, RAM, storage type, SQL Server version)

2. Approximately how large are your Foundation Library, Geometry, and Work Order databases?

3. Are your SQL databases stored on HDD, SATA SSD, or NVMe SSD?

4. How many Microvellum users are connected simultaneously?

5. Are you satisfied with the performance? How long do reports and work order creation typically take?

6. Have you upgraded from HDD to SSD/NVMe or increased RAM? If so, how much did it improve performance?

7. Do you run regular SQL maintenance (index rebuilds, statistics updates, integrity checks), and has that made a noticeable difference?

8. If you have a database larger than 150 GB, are you experiencing the same latency issues, or is your system still performing well?

9. If you were purchasing a new server today for a Microvellum database in the 600 GB to 1 TB range, what configuration would you recommend?

I'm trying to determine whether database size alone is the limiting factor, or whether investing in newer hardware (more CPU cores, additional RAM, and enterprise NVMe storage) can provide good performance even with much larger databases.

I'd really appreciate any recommendations, hardware specifications, performance benchmarks, or lessons learned from your own experience.

Thanks in advance!