/3b switch
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Hi,
I have a Windows 2003 (64-bit) Enterprise Edition server with sql server 2000 - 64 bit installed.
I have 4GB Physical RAM on the machine. How can I use all the RAM by passing the /3Gb switch in the boot.ini file.
I dont find this file in the entire machine. ALso do i need to set the awe enabled to 1 or it is not necessary.
After increasing the memeory for sql server, how do i know that sql server is actually using that extra memory added to the machine.
Thanks.
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There's really no short answer to all those questions, but I recommed that you start by looking up 'memory' in Books On Line. It's a good starting point, and there's quite a loot of good texts to read on the subject.
/Kenneth
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From everything I recall and have read there is no such need in the 64bit environment and SQL should have no problems with using the memory.
This however will provide a number of microsoft resources.
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If you can't find boot.ini on the server (My experience is with 32bit, not 64bit, but hopefully it is the same) try the following command in the root of the C: drive (command line) 'ATTRIB boot.ini'. It will come back with several letters before the boot.ini entry (something like SHR). The S stands for A stands for Archive, System (file), the H stands for Hidden, and the R stands for Read Only.
Now, if you want to modify the file (which I'm not sure that you need to with 64bit), please research modifying boot.ini at microsoft.com or in your help system on the OS.
Usually you issue a command to remove the attributes (like ATTRIB boot.ini -R) , modify the file, then put the attributes back (ATTRIB boot.ini +R). Once again, please research and see if it is necessary/advised with 64 bit.
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Ugh - missed the 64bit part on both accounts
Indeed - with a 64bit platform you have plenty of room to adress 4 GB . (seems like up to 512 GB is the supported limit for 2003 server 64bit + 2000 SQL Server 64 bit)
/Kenneth
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Thanks for ur answers. The best part is that I need not do anything if i am using a 64-bit sql server on a 64bit machine. It will take care of my 4GB automatically.
--Kishore
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For boot.ini, go to My Computer, Manage or click on Properties, you'll find a tab where you can edit the start up. However, with W2K3, PAE should be enabled by default. Just check in Task Manager how much memory your W2K3 sees. It should be some 4000000000 type number.
In the 32-bit edition on W2K3, we have 16 GB but we had to enable AWE in order for MSSQL Server to see and use it. We also set the min/max server settings. Strangely, even if you read the MS documentation, it's not that clear. Without setting AWE through sp_configure, the server would only use less than 2 GB of memory in all our test scenarios.
We never had to use the /3GB switch but, yes, we did have to add /PAE. For some reason it was not automatically enabled.
So, buyer beware, what's supposed to happen doesn't always happen.
Once you have that setup, go to Windows Performance Monitor and find the SQL Server Counter for Memory (I think) and look at Target Server Memory and Total Server Memory. These will indicate how much MSSQL Server is willing to use and how much it is using now, respectively.
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