1. They’re most likely buying a server that will support 64 bit
2. The cost of 32 or 64 bit software (Windows & SQL) is the same.
3. A 32 bit standard Windows/SQL install will support 2-3 GB of memory
4. A 64 bit standard Windows/SQL install will support 32 GB of memory.
5. Adding memory to the 32 bit system will require an upgrade to enterprise editions of both Windows & SQL. Even with discounts this can be in the $10,000 + range plus memory
6. Adding memory to the 64 bit system means just buying the memory
The use of AWE in a x86 environment is only for data caching so plan caching, sort space, and lock memory are still limited to 2 GB of memory in x86. These issues are eliminated on the x64 platform when directly addressing memory as AWE is no longer necessary. In x64 environments you are no longer limited to 2 GB for memory for plan caching, sort space, and lock memory. For any Dynamics – NAV implementation that will use more than 4 GB of memory for SQL Server, a x64 is recommended. The expanded lock memory in x64 would be very beneficial if you plan on using the “Always Rowlock” database option in Dynamics – NAV as you could exceed the 2 GB of lock memory limit that exists on x86.
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