Does your server look like this?
Many of us have inherited a SQL Server instance that has all SQL Services installed. Someone, maybe even you, went through the SQL Server installation process using GUI and checked every option available to them, then just clicked Next, Next, Next and then Install. If this is your environment, please take a moment to evaluate and decide which of these services that are required.
From a performance tuning perspective, it is important to only run the services that you need. Each of these services can consume resources on your server. Sharing resources reduces what youe SQL Server Engine, SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) or named instance SQL Server (ServerName\NamedInstance) can consume to run your workload efficiently. It is highly recommended that all other services not associated with the engine be run on a separate server.
Sometimes due to licensing concerns, this not a viable solution, and that is understandable. However be sure you are knowledgeable about how each configuration setting, like memory, that may need to be adjusted with other services sharing these resources. As I stated in a prior blog the max memory set inside SQL Server does not impact other services like SSIS, SSAS or SSRS. Those services take their memory from the operating system allocation, which in turn can take memory from the SQL Server engine. Be sure to allocate enough to each service. (Note: you may end up needing to spend more in RAM, than licensing, especially if you can run standard edition for BI tools like SSRS or SSIS).
Take a moment and look to see what services you are running versus what you are using. If you find that SSIS, for example, is running and you are not actually using it in your environment turn off the services. Take the time to set it to DISABLED and not just STOP the service. Stopping the service isn’t enough if it is set to start automatically. When the server is rebooted, the service will diligently start, and you do not want that. Make sure to disable the service to prevent that from occurring.
