In this first article of our new series, Performance Tuning Windows Server 2012, we take a look at hardware selection. Obviously it is important to select the right hardware that meets your expected performance and power expectations and needs. Any hardware bottlenecks can limit the effectiveness of software tuning. In this article we provide guidelines for hardware that offers a good foundation for the type of role your server will have. Note that there is a trade-off between power and performance when choosing hardware. As you might expect, faster processors and more disks perform better, but they can also consume more energy. We’ll discuss those trade-offs in a later article.(more…)