June 23, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Hi Guys,
I'm quite new to memory-related stuff for sql server 2005.
Would like advise on AWE.
DB Version: SQL SERVER 2005 ENTERPRISE 32 BITS
OS: WINDOWS SERVER 2003 ENTERPRISE - 32 BITS (4GB MEMORY)
1. Is it true that without AWE being enabled for SQL Server, SQL server can only used up to 2GB of memory?
2. Currently from what I see, the boot.ini has the below config /PAE and my AWE has been enabled. Does it means that sql server is able to use as much memory it can find?
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003, Enterprise" /PAE /fastdetect
3. I have 4GB of memory. Any difference between setting /3GB or /PAE for this amount of RAM?
thanks!
June 23, 2010 at 11:26 pm
On x86 (32-bit) platforms, applications are limited to a maximum of 2GB of memory. To get above that limitation you have to enable PAE and AWE. However, that only makes memory available that is above 4GB. The application still only uses 2GB of the first 4GB of memory and with AWE can access the memory above 4GB.
Essentially, unless you add more memory - SQL Server cannot use more than 2GB of memory.
Except, when you enable the /3GB switch in the boot.ini. When you do that, you tell the system that applications can allocate up to 3GB of memory instead of the limit of 2GB. Since the OS will only use memory from the first 4GB available, this will limit the OS to 1GB of memory. This can be a problem if you actually have more than 4GB of memory on the system.
Jeffrey Williams
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
― Charles R. Swindoll
How to post questions to get better answers faster
Managing Transaction Logs
June 24, 2010 at 12:04 am
Hi Jeffrey,
thanks so much for ur explanation.
Which means to say for my current scenario setting the awe doesn't helps at all as boot.ini is set to /PAE. The sql server still can only use 2GB. right?
thanks !
June 24, 2010 at 7:06 am
Yes - that is correct. With your current configuration SQL Server can only use 2GB of memory.
Jeffrey Williams
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
― Charles R. Swindoll
How to post questions to get better answers faster
Managing Transaction Logs
June 24, 2010 at 9:00 am
Might be worth setting the 3GB switch anyway and the cap SQL max memory to 2.5GB to allow the OS 1.5GB but afford SQL as much as possible.
Adam Zacks-------------------------------------------Be Nice, Or Leave
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