Help Needed on Defining System Requirements and SAS 9.4 M6 Installation on Linux Operation System

[Inlob]

Hi All,

Recency I have been assigned to new project where I have to perform the below activities which is absolutely not familiar to me.

I have to create new instance on the separate server for SAS installation on linux OS with the below provided details.

SAS Version: SAS 9.4 M6

OS: Linux

Users: 6

Data to handle: Around 6TB in size (8Cr+ data of the people)

Server need to install: DMS server, Application Server, Metadata server and Mid tier server

Now I need help on the below asked details:

How much size we will be required for the above project including RAM and all.

How many system will be required for the multi-tier SAS installation.

Defining SAS architecture.

How to Install SAS on Linux OS as I'm familiar to windows installation only.

Please help will be appreciated.

[SASKiwi]

Since you are not familiar with installing SAS I would highly recommend getting expert sizing and design help from SAS or an accredited SAS partner. The days of figuring it out as you go along is long gone, and any effort you put into the planning stage of your installation will be well rewarded.

SAS offer a free sizing service which will be very useful to you. It's more involved than just knowing how many users you will have and how much data. On the face of it, your requirements are quite small, but as they say the devil is in the detail. Are you using physical hardware or are you using VMs? VMs are a lot easier to configure. Do you need both a Production and a Development environment or just the single Development environment? There are many questions like this that need answering before you can progress your design. Also I'd recommend installing the latest maintenance release 9.4M7 rather than starting with an older one. M8 is due out later this year and by then you will be two maintenance releases behind.

Install Center is a good place to start for learning about SAS installs: Install Center | SAS Support

[Sajid01]

The exact specifications depends upon your requirements and your environment and whether you are small firm or large organization with IT department. 

This is what I would do with six users and normal use which I have seen in my practice. Make due diligence to see if it works for you.
I would prefer a simple design that is easy to use and maintain.
All in one single machine install. Metatdata server, Apllication Server and Midtier on the same machine.

User would connect with SAS EG/ SAS Studio. No  user to login to the server.
Space for sas install partition : 100 GB . (This is exclusively for SAS .Does not include space for OS and all non SAS applications. Running user SAS programs, logs, data etc are never stored here.).

Core : - 8-12 cores.
Ram : 32 GB 
The following would be on separate file systems/ partitions on the local machine/VM and  mounted at the appropriate locations. Would never use a single large disk.
You would need to give a close look on the following.

SASWORK : 500 GB-1 TB. (Again depends on use). 

Data drive   (2 TB) To store code, logs and data . The data would be the SAS  datasets, files that running SAS programs would read or write to . Not an archiving location. Data not needed on a day to day basis should not stay here.

The folders used to store SAS codes /scripts can also serve as local clone of the appropriate GIT/SVN repository where such an arrangement exists.
Archival storage space : Where data files not needed on a day to day basis. Not local but cheaper reliable storage.

Arrangement for periodic backup.

Some important suggestions.
Restrict server login only to the Administrators.
Limit on SAS dataset size. Where tables are larger than say 50-100 GB they will go to a separate DBMS system on a different machine.

Linux being the OS, do not install a GUI. Use command line where needed. ssh clients like MobaXterm are very useful.

However, if there is no Linux proficiency Windows could be  an alternative, Everything would remain substantially same except for GUI.

Please bear in mind this is from an administrators perspective and based on my experience with a substantially larger userbase.  However, you must make your own due diligence and judgement.

Please let me know if you have questions. Will be happy to answer them if I can.