performance problem - sql server 2005 x64 version - memory allocation - need more information

  • Hi All,

    Our server is having x64 sql server 2005 with build no: 2047.

    Processor: AMD opteron processor(2 in numbers) 2.61GHZ           Memory: 4.83GB

    In sql server setting,

    min memory = 0MB       Max memory = 2147483647MB

    The server was rebuilded from earlier crash. Some days back users were saying the sql agent jobs and sql server performance was very low. We checked in the task manager sql server.exe was using 63MB and overall PF utilization was 4.3GB. We also setup performance counter and found the sql server counters like buffer cache hit ratio were normal.

    Then found an article saying that in 64 bit version AWE option is not needed and need to add 'local pages in memory' option inorder to make the sql server running out of paging with OS. We enabled 'local pages in memory' for the sql server account and rebooted server.

    After enabling 'local pages in memory' in  sql server log we found the below messages,

    2 processor(s) and 4952 MB RAM detected

    Earlier memory information is not captured in sql server log.

    Now in task manager sql server.exe is using 85MB and PF utilization is 670MB. PF utilization is dropped very much from 4.5GB to 670MB.

    Below is the boot.ini info,

    [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 Standard x64 Edition" /noexecute=optout /fastdetect

    We didn't enable /3b and /pae. we are not sure sql server is using maximum memory effectively and the performance of the sql server is improved or not.

    Anyone please help whether that the memory is apt for the server performance and also inform me that we are missing something.

     

     

     

     

     

  • You need to include the /3GB switch so that sql server can utilise more than 2GB of RAM else it will use only the default 1.7GB that it can use.

    Cheers,
    Sugeshkumar Rajendran
    SQL Server MVP
    http://sugeshkr.blogspot.com

  • Hi,

    Is this necessary to enable /3gb option in boot.ini file in 64bit version.

    can AWE option can make the sql server to use more than 3gb of physical memory.

    But i read from an article that in 64bit version awe option is not needed to enable and it is better to enable lock pages in memory option.

    We enabled lock pages in memory and can some one confirm that as of now how much memory sql server can use.

    BR,

    Parthipan

  • Wat's the edition of SQL server. If it is Standard Edition it cannot go beyond 2GB.  Where as on Enterprise edition can take more than 2 gb of ram if added with /3gb switch.

  • SQL Server 2005 standard edition has no RAM max:

    http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/features/compare-features.mspx

    (Well the max of the OS)

  • Hi Parthipan,

    There seems to be some confusion over 32-bit vs. 64-bit architectures.  You do not want to do either 3gb or PAE.  There is not a 4 GB virtual memory limitation with 64 bit architecture, which 3GB would change.  Also, PAE allows for 36-bit memory addressing, which is only relevant on 32-bit processor architectures.  With 4 GB of RAM, try setting a min memory setting and see if SQL picks it up.  Other things you may want to look at is the physical memory used in the OS as opposed to what it shows in the task manager processes part.  You may find that SQL is taking more memory than it shows, due to the type of memory allocation it does.  Other than that, I don't believe you are missing anything...

    Thanks,

    Eric

  • Hi All,

    Thank you for your valuable inputs.

    what is the minimum memory can we set in the sql server properties. As of now we configuref

    min memory = 0MB       Max memory = 2147483647MB and Total Physical RAM=4.83GB

    and in the task manager sql server.exe is taking 85MB memory and 670MB of PF utilization.

    Eric,

    Please enlighten me what are the memory parameters I have to look in to it.

     

    BR,

    Parthipan

  • Whew, the flood and drought of on-call!  There isn't too much to set up in SQL '05 64-bit.  As long as you can lock pages inmemory, only max and min server memory settings really seem relevant.  I'm not sure which DM it is, but I would check out the memory related DM views, too.  As for memory settings, try setting a min server memory (of say, 1 GB), restart SQL and see if it picks up in the SQL log.

    BTW, what kind of perf problems are you having at this point?

    Thanks,

    Eric

  •  Hi All,

    Thank you for all of your valuable techincal inputs.

    Eric,

    As an administrator I cannot able to find out any difference in performance of the server. But the users scheduled some application jobs which is taking much time for completion. They are comparing with earlier setup(before server crash) in which the server performance was 4 times better than the current setup.

    Now we have disabled the 'lock pages in memory'  and setup the performance counters in order to compare any performance improvement is happening by enabling 'lock pages in memory' and also by setting Min and Max memory option to apt value.

     I collected the memory related counters by running sys.dm_os_performance_counters after disabling the 'lock pages in memory'  and below are the outputs.

    Someone please check and confirm us for any abnormal counter value and also advice us how we can troubleshoot.

     

    Object_namecounter_namecntr_valuecntr_type
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Buffer cache hit ratio                                                                                                          1690537003264
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Buffer cache hit ratio base                                                                                                     16921073939712
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Page lookups/sec                                                                                                                36866692272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Free list stalls/sec                                                                                                            0272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Free pages                                                                                                                      19565792
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Total pages                                                                                                                     3062465792
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Target pages                                                                                                                    46256265792
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Database pages                                                                                                                  2421065792
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Reserved pages                                                                                                                  065792
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Stolen pages                                                                                                                    621965792
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Lazy writes/sec                                                                                                                 0272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Readahead pages/sec                                                                                                             17235272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Page reads/sec                                                                                                                  24112272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Page writes/sec                                                                                                                 1065272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Checkpoint pages/sec                                                                                                            168272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        AWE lookup maps/sec                                                                                                             0272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        AWE stolen maps/sec                                                                                                             0272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        AWE write maps/sec                                                                                                              0272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        AWE unmap calls/sec                                                                                                             0272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        AWE unmap pages/sec                                                                                                             0272696576
    SQLServer:Buffer Manager                                                                                                        Page life expectancy                                                                                                            59799665792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Connection Memory (KB)                                                                                                          24065792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Granted Workspace Memory (KB)                                                                                                   065792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Lock Memory (KB)                                                                                                                423265792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Lock Blocks Allocated                                                                                                           2205065792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Lock Owner Blocks Allocated                                                                                                     2205065792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Lock Blocks                                                                                                                     165792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Lock Owner Blocks                                                                                                               165792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Maximum Workspace Memory (KB)                                                                                                   268844065792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Memory Grants Outstanding                                                                                                       065792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Memory Grants Pending                                                                                                           065792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Optimizer Memory (KB)                                                                                                           28065792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        SQL Cache Memory (KB)                                                                                                           172065792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Target Server Memory (KB)                                                                                                       370049665792
    SQLServer:Memory Manager                                                                                                        Total Server Memory (KB)                                                                                                        24499265792
        

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