Home > Storage > PowerVault > Guides > Dell PowerVault ME5 Series: Microsoft SQL Server Best Practices > Mixed workloads
The most common scenario for a SQL Server environment is a mixed workload. Typically, SQL Server I/O patterns do not strictly fall into an OLTP or OLAP pattern. This is what can make SQL Server workloads challenging because no two workloads behave the same. In addition, the same SQL Server host or instance may be servicing multiple applications or transaction workloads. A mixed workload can also imply that multiple applications (in addition to SQL Server) are residing on the same host or accessing the same storage. The combined workload of these applications invalidates any typical application I/O usage pattern. For these reasons, it is important to gather actual performance metrics for best sizing results.