Amount of RAM in server

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Amount of RAM in server

tfeuz

Ten Centuries

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November 17, 2017 at 3:19 pm

#341386

Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?

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Eirikur Eiriksson SSC Guru Points: 182882 More actions · Answer 1

tfeuz - Friday, November 17, 2017 3:19 PM
Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?

RAM is cheap, always go for Edition's limits + OS or harware's maximum if the Edition allows for more 😉
😎

I have long lost count of the times when badly performing SQL Servers have been fixed by simply adding more RAM.

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1003863 More actions · Answer 2

tfeuz - Friday, November 17, 2017 3:19 PM
Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?

384GB of RAM and 3TB of SSD cache on my main server. On smaller servers, as little as 16GB with 4GB of that allocated to the OS.

Your turn... why do you ask?

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

tfeuz Ten Centuries Points: 1196 More actions · Answer 3

Jeff Moden - Sunday, November 19, 2017 5:56 PM
tfeuz - Friday, November 17, 2017 3:19 PM
Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?
384GB of RAM and 3TB of SSD cache on my main server. On smaller servers, as little as 16GB with 4GB of that allocated to the OS.
Your turn... why do you ask?

Thanks for the response John...

We have had a number of customers (they each have their own database) complaining about performance problems over the last period of time. I have always assumed that it was a problem with bad indexing and bad query writing. In the last incident I just could not see any other way to "fix" the SQL process we had created. I had assumed that everything was squared aware hardware wise but I think we goofed. I am just trying to get some background information to get the powers that be to open their wallets.

As a "for instance" - we have customers with a 100GB, 242GB, 537 GB database and only 8GB of RAM each.
Oh yeah - each of those customers, and a bunch I have not told you about, are all on one server under different instances.

I am not one for throwing hardware at a problem prematurely - but I am pretty sure that is the next step forward.

TF

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1003863 More actions · Answer 4

tfeuz - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:13 PM
Jeff Moden - Sunday, November 19, 2017 5:56 PM
tfeuz - Friday, November 17, 2017 3:19 PM
Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?
384GB of RAM and 3TB of SSD cache on my main server. On smaller servers, as little as 16GB with 4GB of that allocated to the OS.
Your turn... why do you ask?
Thanks for the response John...
We have had a number of customers (they each have their own database) complaining about performance problems over the last period of time. I have always assumed that it was a problem with bad indexing and bad query writing. In the last incident I just could not see any other way to "fix" the SQL process we had created. I had assumed that everything was squared aware hardware wise but I think we goofed. I am just trying to get some background information to get the powers that be to open their wallets.
As a "for instance" - we have customers with a 100GB, 242GB, 537 GB database and only 8GB of RAM each.
Oh yeah - each of those customers, and a bunch I have not told you about, are all on one server under different instances.
I am not one for throwing hardware at a problem prematurely - but I am pretty sure that is the next step forward.
TF

It's "Jeff", not "John. 😉

And, yeah, I definitely agree... 8GB of RAM isn't enough for those size databases. For the 100GB system, I'd recommend at least 64GB but would prefer at least 128. As for the other two and depending on how much their "audit" tables take up, at least 128GB each but I'd prefer a minimum of 256. THEN you can start fixing queries. 😉 No sense in even looking at queries if the systems with databases those sizes only have 8GB.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

tfeuz Ten Centuries Points: 1196 More actions · Answer 5

Jeff Moden - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:21 PM
tfeuz - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:13 PM
Jeff Moden - Sunday, November 19, 2017 5:56 PM
tfeuz - Friday, November 17, 2017 3:19 PM
Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?
384GB of RAM and 3TB of SSD cache on my main server. On smaller servers, as little as 16GB with 4GB of that allocated to the OS.
Your turn... why do you ask?
Thanks for the response John...
We have had a number of customers (they each have their own database) complaining about performance problems over the last period of time. I have always assumed that it was a problem with bad indexing and bad query writing. In the last incident I just could not see any other way to "fix" the SQL process we had created. I had assumed that everything was squared aware hardware wise but I think we goofed. I am just trying to get some background information to get the powers that be to open their wallets.
As a "for instance" - we have customers with a 100GB, 242GB, 537 GB database and only 8GB of RAM each.
Oh yeah - each of those customers, and a bunch I have not told you about, are all on one server under different instances.
I am not one for throwing hardware at a problem prematurely - but I am pretty sure that is the next step forward.
TF
It's "Jeff", not "John. 😉
And, yeah, I definitely agree... 8GB of RAM isn't enough for those size databases. For the 100GB system, I'd recommend at least 64GB but would prefer at least 128. As for the other two and depending on how much their "audit" tables take up, at least 128GB each but I'd prefer a minimum of 256. THEN you can start fixing queries. 😉 No sense in even looking at queries if the systems with databases those sizes only have 8GB.

Sorry Jeff - my apologies.

I appreciate the feedback!

tfeuz Ten Centuries Points: 1196 More actions · Answer 6

tfeuz - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:24 PM
Jeff Moden - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:21 PM
tfeuz - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:13 PM
Jeff Moden - Sunday, November 19, 2017 5:56 PM
tfeuz - Friday, November 17, 2017 3:19 PM
Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?
384GB of RAM and 3TB of SSD cache on my main server. On smaller servers, as little as 16GB with 4GB of that allocated to the OS.
Your turn... why do you ask?
Thanks for the response John...
We have had a number of customers (they each have their own database) complaining about performance problems over the last period of time. I have always assumed that it was a problem with bad indexing and bad query writing. In the last incident I just could not see any other way to "fix" the SQL process we had created. I had assumed that everything was squared aware hardware wise but I think we goofed. I am just trying to get some background information to get the powers that be to open their wallets.
As a "for instance" - we have customers with a 100GB, 242GB, 537 GB database and only 8GB of RAM each.
Oh yeah - each of those customers, and a bunch I have not told you about, are all on one server under different instances.
I am not one for throwing hardware at a problem prematurely - but I am pretty sure that is the next step forward.
TF
It's "Jeff", not "John. 😉
And, yeah, I definitely agree... 8GB of RAM isn't enough for those size databases. For the 100GB system, I'd recommend at least 64GB but would prefer at least 128. As for the other two and depending on how much their "audit" tables take up, at least 128GB each but I'd prefer a minimum of 256. THEN you can start fixing queries. 😉 No sense in even looking at queries if the systems with databases those sizes only have 8GB.
Sorry Jeff - my apologies.
I appreciate the feedback!

The good news is that we have already tuned the queries as much as I feel we can - so this may be a good news thing, just add more RAM.

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1003863 More actions · Answer 7

tfeuz - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:25 PM
tfeuz - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:24 PM
Jeff Moden - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:21 PM
tfeuz - Sunday, November 19, 2017 6:13 PM
Jeff Moden - Sunday, November 19, 2017 5:56 PM
tfeuz - Friday, November 17, 2017 3:19 PM
Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?
384GB of RAM and 3TB of SSD cache on my main server. On smaller servers, as little as 16GB with 4GB of that allocated to the OS.
Your turn... why do you ask?
Thanks for the response John...
We have had a number of customers (they each have their own database) complaining about performance problems over the last period of time. I have always assumed that it was a problem with bad indexing and bad query writing. In the last incident I just could not see any other way to "fix" the SQL process we had created. I had assumed that everything was squared aware hardware wise but I think we goofed. I am just trying to get some background information to get the powers that be to open their wallets.
As a "for instance" - we have customers with a 100GB, 242GB, 537 GB database and only 8GB of RAM each.
Oh yeah - each of those customers, and a bunch I have not told you about, are all on one server under different instances.
I am not one for throwing hardware at a problem prematurely - but I am pretty sure that is the next step forward.
TF
It's "Jeff", not "John. 😉
And, yeah, I definitely agree... 8GB of RAM isn't enough for those size databases. For the 100GB system, I'd recommend at least 64GB but would prefer at least 128. As for the other two and depending on how much their "audit" tables take up, at least 128GB each but I'd prefer a minimum of 256. THEN you can start fixing queries. 😉 No sense in even looking at queries if the systems with databases those sizes only have 8GB.
Sorry Jeff - my apologies.
I appreciate the feedback!
The good news is that we have already tuned the queries as much as I feel we can - so this may be a good news thing, just add more RAM.

That would be good news, indeed. It may not work out that way though. Sorry to use the old clichÃ©` but, although adding memory is one of the best hardware investments you can make, "It {still} Depends". Be on the lookout for future opportunities.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Thomas Rushton SSC-Insane Points: 22648 More actions · Answer 8

tfeuz - Friday, November 17, 2017 3:19 PM
Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?

Anything from 4GB for some tiny instances up to 128GB for a couple of the largest servers.

Thomas Rushton
blog: https://thelonedba.wordpress.com

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 9

Various, since I have a lot of clients. Lowest is probably 16GB, highest is 512GB.

My general comment is if your production server has less memory than my laptop (which has 16), there's something rather wrong.

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

Thom A SSC Guru Points: 99126 More actions · Answer 10

tfeuz - Friday, November 17, 2017 3:19 PM
Just curious - how much RAM do you have in your SQL server?

256GB on the 2012 instance. 4GB ( :crying: ) on the 2008 instance (and I can't wait for that server to go...).

Thom~

Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
Larnu.uk

CC-597066 SSCommitted Points: 1636 More actions · Answer 11

I feel very inadequate! My smallest two have 1GB and 1 vCPU each and run SQL 2005. They performed OK in their day but have only been kept around while an application is decommissioned.

Our largest server has 32GB then most have 8GB or 16GB but there are still a few that have 4GB. Even our SAP server only has 24GB!