Configure NDC SQL database

Netwrix Data Classification uses either a Microsoft SQL Server database or a PostgreSQL database as metadata storage. During installation, the setup wizard prompts you to create a dedicated NDC SQL database on your SQL Server or PostgreSQL instance. After installation completes, configure it as described in this topic for the product to function properly. You can create the database manually before the product installation using an appropriate tool such as SQL Server Management Studio or pgAdmin. See the Microsoft article Create a Database for detailed instructions on creating a new SQL Server database. See the pgAdmin article Database Dialog for instructions on creating a new PostgreSQL database.

note

Netwrix recommends installing NDC and its database on separate servers for better performance.

Configure a SQL Server database

Certain product features require SQL Server Standard or Enterprise edition.

note

The account you use to create the NDC SQL database needs the dbcreator server-level role.

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio or your preferred SQL client and connect to the SQL Server instance hosting the NDC database. Depending on your security setup, you may need to do this on the server itself.

2. Open the properties window for the NDC database. In SQL Server Management Studio, select the database in the explorer tab on the left side of the window, right-click, and select Properties.

3. Select the Files page and set the Initial Size (MB) for the PRIMARY file group to 512MB.

4. Set the Autogrowth and Max Size for the PRIMARY file group as follows:

   Option	Description
   File Growth	- Recommended — 128 MB. - Large environment — 512 MB.
   Maximum File Size	Select Unlimited.

5. Select the Options page and ensure the Recovery model is "Simple".

   note

   Netwrix recommends that you don't change the recovery model to avoid excessive log file growth.

Configure a PostgreSQL database

Allow for a write-ahead log (pg_wal) directory of at least 32 GB for a single instance, or 128 GB for a Distributed Query Server environment, to accommodate periods of high load.

note

Use the postgres account, or an account with permission to create and alter databases, tables, and indexes, to create the NDC SQL Database.

1. Connect to the server hosting the PostgreSQL instance and open the postgresql.conf file.

2. Update the values for the specified configuration settings as follows:

   Setting	Recommended value (single instance)	Recommended value (4-instance Distributed Query Server environment)
   max_wal_size	16GB	64GB
   min_wal_size	4GB	16GB
   checkpoint_timeout	15min	15min
   checkpoint_completion_target	0.9	0.9

Netwrix recommends these values for a fully loaded instance of the given size, i.e. up to 16 million files per instance.

3. Reload the configuration in your PostgreSQL instance by restarting the service.

note

These recommendations are calculated estimates and subject to change. Adjust the PostgreSQL database configuration according to your needs and limits.