Microsoft Dynamics AX can function in a virtualized environment and does not require any specific setup since virtual environments, by nature, simulate a physical environment. Therefore, in many cases, your company will benefit greatly by deploying Dynamics AX 2009 on a virtualized infrastructure. There are many added benefits if you choose to follow this route such as cost, speed of client deployment, and modifying resources in real-time, to name a few. There are many vendors that provide virtualization solutions, including Microsoft. Price, features, and ease of use all play a role in deciding which solution is better. Consult the virtual solution vendor for more detailed information on server virtualization products.

Database sizing is potentially the most critical step in performance for a Dynamics AX 2009 implementation. Each database server has its own specifications for hardware. However, the general ideas are the same. We will primarily be focusing on Microsoft SQL Server. The following table contains resources that are useful references when setting up a database for Dynamics AX:

As with any company, the level of database space, redundancy, and efficiency is dependent on the number of transactions that the database will have to handle. Therefore, the larger the business, the more is the need for a robust and redundant data store. These constraints will also be important when determining the best database configuration.

As far as the hardware configuration for a database goes, there are many robust options available such as RAID and SAN storage. The database server may contain all the business data and SharePoint content data as well as run SQL Analysis Services for business intelligence. If using RAID, the configuration should be RAID 0+1 (01) or RAID 1+0 (10), in case of the unlikely event of data loss or corruption.

It is certainly possible to have all the databases for the development and test environments on such a server. However, the production environment should have its own database server. For example, a multiple processor core system with 8 GB to 16 GB of RAM per database with at least 2 TB of storage. Additionally, backups should occur as needed, otherwise, they should occur daily during off-peak hours.

For minimum database server requirements, please refer to the following table:

Additionally, the larger the enterprise, the greater the need to have a SAN storage system. The following table outlines a possible hardware setup scenario:

The Application Object Server (AOS) is essentially the "heart" of Dynamics AX. This is where all the business logic, application objects, and operations are handled. Due to this, it is no surprise how important it is to make sure that the AOS operates as best as it can. Performance resources allocated to one or more AOSs must be done as follows: depending on the number of concurrent users, you may be required to implement multiple AOSs.

In order to successfully determine how many AOSs are required, the basic rule of thumb is that there should be one AOS for every 60 concurrent users (based on the recommended configuration). Therefore, if your company has 120 concurrent users, you would need to implement two AOSs and load balance them both. You can load balance either using hardware or software. Dynamics AX already includes the feature of clustering multiple AOSs. Clustering may be a more cost-effective approach to load balancing, yet may not be as powerful as hardware-based solutions. A company will need to leverage the two based on performance and cost.

The Application file server will hold all the application files, which contain all the application code, modules, and customizations for Dynamics AX. The server should have sufficient space to hold this information. Typically, for one environment, the application file folder with base modules takes about 7 GB of space. However, for backups and additional possible maintenance tasks, 100 GB is recommended. Network bandwidth, disk performance, and fault tolerance (RAID configuration) are the emphasis for this server. The server will not be performing any business calculations; however, it will be serving the AOS server application data. In a clustered or load balanced environment, the application file folder, for an environment, will be a network share. However, the shared folder cannot be set up as a Distributed File System (DFS). Although it's not required to backup the application files unless the codebase is modified, backups of the application file folder should occur daily during off-peak hours to ensure an easy restore plan.

The following table describes a recommended configuration for a typical Application file server:

A web server will serve Enterprise Portal content, Reporting Services reports, Application Integration Framework (AIF) web services, or Workflow. Depending on the number of concurrent users or available resources, a single web server can contain more than one Dynamics AX extended server component or a dedicated web server may be required for each extended server component. It is important to assess the requirements for accessing such services. Available network bandwidth, security, response time, and processor speed are the emphasis for a web server. This server will connect to the AOS server and serve as a frontend access to Dynamics AX instead of using the rich client. The following table describes the minimal requirements for a typical web server used for Dynamics AX extended server components: