March 13, 2008 at 1:21 am
Hello all,
I am running Windows Server 2003 R2 standard Edition with SP1, using IIS, and SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition. Server running 4 core processors with 4CGB of RAM. I have not changed any entries to the boot.ini or with SQL Server to take advantage of the memory. I am looking for the best way to utilize the hardware in the machine????
This is dedicated DB server under split server configuration
Would it be useful if swith to /3g for AWE enabled option for sp_configure?
Please suggest me the best configuration methods if any?
Thanks in adavance
March 13, 2008 at 3:25 am
Can you confirm you have 4Gb of ram ? or a typo? If you only have 4Gb ram I seriously suggest you don't enable the 3gb switch and just leave things as they are.
[font="Comic Sans MS"]The GrumpyOldDBA[/font]
www.grumpyolddba.co.uk
http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/grumpyolddba/
March 13, 2008 at 4:11 am
Yes i do have 4 gb RAM..
Ok i won't go for that..Could you tell me what will happen if i do? any specific reason?
Thanks,
March 13, 2008 at 1:23 pm
The switches are only really helpfull with +4GB of ram
With defaults, 2GB is reserved for applications (like sql server) and 2GB for the OS.
With the /3GB boot.ini switch it allows applications to use 3GB and the OS is left over with 1 GB of working memory (used for file transfers, ...).
The 1GB of OS memory can be on the low side.
March 17, 2008 at 8:51 am
I'd suggest you do not use any switches but leave it as is. There are some o/s settings which may be useful - part of something I blogged just recently.
[font="Comic Sans MS"]The GrumpyOldDBA[/font]
www.grumpyolddba.co.uk
http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/grumpyolddba/
March 18, 2008 at 2:43 am
I love this site but one of the things I find difficult is when people make statements that are not backed up. Should we follow their advice blindly? A number of blogs have recently eluded to the problem of myths developing, which has probably been born from people writing statements that on the face of it sound convincing or that the person making the statement shouts the loudest.
Colin, I have looked at your link and it says not a lot of where you have referenced your information from. In particular, with this question on the /3GB switch you say that there may be detrimental effects. What detrimental effects? Where is the evidence - testing, research, data from others? Please give references to help the questioner understand why you say what you say, rather than expecting them to blindly accept your word - not trying to say your wrong btw 😀 .
Bagath, you may want to look at Slava Oks' blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/slavao) which has some great stuff on this. Also, Ken Henderson's (RIP) books, Guru's Guide to SQL Server Architecture and Internals and SQL Server 2005 Practical Troubleshooting: The Database Engine are some good sources on your question too.
You can also consider the /USERVA switch as an alternative, but whatever you do, you should test, test, test, to ensure that it does not adversely affect your server, and of course, check that it improves its performance. And be careful that the adverse effects of implementing the /3GB may not show up immediately, but some time later for which you may not equate it to this setting.
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