How to set up SQL/Server on 64Bit server to use 32GB memory?

  • We have a 64-bit Server with AMB opteron processors (not itaniums) and 32GB memory.

    It currently has Win2003/64 bit Enterprise SP1 and SQL/Server 2000/32 bit Enterprise edition SP3 installed. As I understand it, 64bit SQL/Server only runs on itaniums.

    Using enterprise manager 32GB memory is reported, but task manager reports SQL/Server having a max of just under 4GB allocated.

    We tried putting on SQL/Server SP4 and the Opteron hotfix, but performance seemed to suffer, so we reverted to SP3.

    Does anyone know how to configure the system so SQL/Server can use most of the 32GB?  

    Thanks in advance for your help.



    Best Regards,

    Otto Schreibke

    The future is a foreign country, they do things differently there.
    (Stolen from Arthur C Clarke)

  • Otto,

    What you know is right SQLServer 2000 64 bit runs only on Itanum.

    SQL2005 will run on AMD processors as well.

    Did you check for your environment the boot.ini, AWE and the Fixed memory settings?



    Bye
    Gabor

  • Thanks for the reply.

    "Did you check for your environment the boot.ini, AWE and the Fixed memory settings?"

    What should I be looking for?

    If I remember correctly, I set the fixed memory size to something like 28GB, and tried to turn AWE on using sp_configure.

    Do I need to set something in windows? I found some documentation (for example /3gb switch), but wasn't sure if it applies to the 64 bit version.



    Best Regards,

    Otto Schreibke

    The future is a foreign country, they do things differently there.
    (Stolen from Arthur C Clarke)

  • We have pretty much the same exact setup, we only have 14G of ram.  We do have the sp4 on with the hotfix for the awe memory(guess that is what you meant by opteron fix).  When I don't have the /3GB /PAE set in boot.ini and the AWE set in sql, I see 3.8G of memory being used by SQL, and have a query that runs in 1 minute.  When I use the above switches and so on, I can set the max memory in sql to something and I do see the available memory shrink to 14G- whatever I set it at, however the sql.exe does not take it up(even though when I use a 3rd parting tool to look at virtual mem, I see the sql.exe taking 3.8G) and the Page file usage rises to what I set the max memory in enterprise manager to and worst of all my query now runs in over 3 minutes.

    What is going on, how can this work?

     

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