MS SQL - Important steps for good solutions

SQL Server is the backbone of Sharepoint Server. It keeps Sharepoint configuration databases, content databases and all other integration applications databases like SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), PowerPivot for Sharepoint Server, PerformancePoint. MCDBA has a very important role to review business analyze and provides the best solution that matches their expectations using SQL Server new features:

• AlwaysOn: Availability functionality including availability groups and the ability to file;
• Over databases in groups that mimic applications. This includes new readable secondary servers, a big enhancement;
• FileTable: Additional file-based data storage;
• Extended Events: A new functionality built into SQL Server 2012 that provides lightweight and extensive tracing capability;
• Columnstore indexes for optimizing large data volumes;
• Compression and partitioning capabilities;
• DMV’s capabilities for optimizing MSSQL performance;
• Rapid data discovery with Power View and PowerPivot;
• Managed Self-Service BI with SharePoint and BI Semantic Model;

His objectives are to deliver a secure, reliable and scalable solution and to improve performance:
• Must be sure the solution can be scaled up and out in time;
• On which RAID level will be kept databases, what type of storage will be use: NAS, SAN;
• How to deploy database files on volumes to reduce storage cost;
• How many partitions, what size to have, and their roles;
• Define replication processes if needed;
• For High Availability scenarios he chooses which technique is the best: Log Shipping, Mirroring, Clustering or SQL server AlwaysOn;
• Using Partitioning and Compression to Improve Performance;
• Monitoring availability and performance counters;
• Tuning I/O, CPU, and Memory to Increase the Speed of Query Results;
• how many servers, what SQL versions, what patches to meet Sharepoint software requirements.