Page file

Hello,

I readwhere it is recommended to have a pagefile = 1.5 x physical ram

so i have 4gb and the math = setting it to 6144 if try that I gettold
to set the max to something =< 4096

so I have added the /PAE to the boot.ini and now it let me put the 6144
in...

am I going in the right direction to increase performance ..... I also run
sql2005 on this unit

thanks for any feedback

 

Hello Dan,

Have a look here about pagefile sizes:


And here about SQL in detail:


Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.
** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
** HELP us help YOU!!!

<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> Hello,
>
> I readwhere it is recommended to have a pagefile = 1.5 x physical ram
>
> so i have 4gb and the math = setting it to 6144 if try that I
> gettold to set the max to something =< 4096
>
> so I have added the /PAE to the boot.ini and now it let me put the
> 6144 in...
>
> am I going in the right direction to increase performance ..... I
> also run sql2005 on this unit
>
> thanks for any feedback
> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

 

Hi Meinhof,
I am having problems understanding the 1st document link you gave me even
though I am running the 32 bit stndard edition..... that document does have a
paragraph that compairs 32 bit vs 64 bit stuff...and in the 32 bit stuff it
says that "windows sets up a page file that is equal to 1.5 times the
physical ram installed"


I remember the original pagefile on my system ( default ) was min= 2048
max= 4096
this does not seem to support that documents contention that" windows sets
up a file that = 1.5 the physical ram".... the recommendation that 1.5 time
the ram was desired , this is what inspired me to try to get this pagefile
jacked up to 6144
which as I mentioned it seems the system prohibited this untill I put the
/PAE switch in the boot.ini then I could set this to 6144

your thoughts ??

"Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS]" wrote:
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> Hello Dan,
>
> Have a look here about pagefile sizes:
>
>
> And here about SQL in detail:
>
>
> Best regards
>
> Meinolf Weber
> Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
> no rights.
> ** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
> ** HELP us help YOU!!!
>
> <!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
> > Hello,
> >
> > I readwhere it is recommended to have a pagefile = 1.5 x physical ram
> >
> > so i have 4gb and the math = setting it to 6144 if try that I
> > gettold to set the max to something =< 4096
> >
> > so I have added the /PAE to the boot.ini and now it let me put the
> > 6144 in...
> >
> > am I going in the right direction to increase performance ..... I
> > also run sql2005 on this unit
> >
> > thanks for any feedback
> > <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>
>
> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

 

Although the article referenced by Meinolf mentions 64 bit systems, the
information about pagefile size applies to both 32 bit and 64 bit systems
equally.

As suggested in that article, how big to make the pagefile depends entirely
on the workload requirement. 1.5*RAM is the default but is only a starting
point if you have no other information. If possibly, you configure the
server with sufficient RAM that paging activity (and thus the use of the
pagefile) is minimized or eliminated entirely.

You may find the discussion in section 2.3 of

useful.

To establish an "optimum" pagefile size for your system, monitor the %
pagefile in use Performance Monitor counter (see section 2.8 of the above
document); this will tell you how much of the current pagefile is actually
being used. If this counter is low and disk space is at a premium, consider
reducing the pagefile size.

If I understand correctly, SQL server will manage its use of available
memory to minimize actual pagefile use and paging activity.

--
Bruce Sanderson

It's perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.



"Dan DeCoursey" <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:67103FE0-3D1E-4CE5-9683-EC1B5B44FEA5@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> Hi Meinhof,
> I am having problems understanding the 1st document link you gave me even
> though I am running the 32 bit stndard edition..... that document does
> have a
> paragraph that compairs 32 bit vs 64 bit stuff...and in the 32 bit stuff
> it
> says that "windows sets up a page file that is equal to 1.5 times the
> physical ram installed"
>
>
> I remember the original pagefile on my system ( default ) was min= 2048
> max= 4096
> this does not seem to support that documents contention that" windows
> sets
> up a file that = 1.5 the physical ram".... the recommendation that 1.5
> time
> the ram was desired , this is what inspired me to try to get this pagefile
> jacked up to 6144
> which as I mentioned it seems the system prohibited this untill I put the
> /PAE switch in the boot.ini then I could set this to 6144
>
> your thoughts ??
>
> "Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS]" wrote:
><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> Hello Dan,
>>
>> Have a look here about pagefile sizes:
>>
>>
>> And here about SQL in detail:
>>
>>
>> Best regards
>>
>> Meinolf Weber
>> Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
>> confers
>> no rights.
>> ** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
>> ** HELP us help YOU!!!
>>
>><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>> > Hello,
>> >
>> > I readwhere it is recommended to have a pagefile = 1.5 x physical ram
>> >
>> > so i have 4gb and the math = setting it to 6144 if try that I
>> > gettold to set the max to something =< 4096
>> >
>> > so I have added the /PAE to the boot.ini and now it let me put the
>> > 6144 in...
>> >
>> > am I going in the right direction to increase performance ..... I
>> > also run sql2005 on this unit
>> >
>> > thanks for any feedback
>> ><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>>
>>
>> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

 

Hello Bruce,

Well it seems as if I keep re iterating the same detials over and over;

My server has 4gb ram installed.... you folks keep saying that 1.5 times is
the "default" ....then why was mine set originally at minimum=2048 max=4098 ?
I , since, have examined a couple other servers here and they are the same.
( these servers are all the same box (hp ml350g5) configured using my
"standard config" which is Server 2003 standard w/4gb ram) This appears to me
to be the "default" 2048/4096
The recommedation to establish a pagefile that is 1.5 times the physical ram
= 6144 .. this is what I was origianlly after but when I attempted to make
that change in the pagefile size.. it would say "please select a
maximun files size that is equal to, or less than 4096"

please expalin this ?

So I then put the /PEA option in the boot.ini...then the server permitted
me to change the pagefileto 6144 ( min and max) and it was accepted....

what have I Done ? something good or bad or indifferent?

installing more ram will that do anything more for me since I am running 32
bit server 2003 standard edition ?

I appreciate everyones patience in me getting a grip on this


"Bruce Sanderson" wrote:
H<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> Although the article referenced by Meinolf mentions 64 bit systems, the
> information about pagefile size applies to both 32 bit and 64 bit systems
> equally.
>
> As suggested in that article, how big to make the pagefile depends entirely
> on the workload requirement. 1.5*RAM is the default but is only a starting
> point if you have no other information. If possibly, you configure the
> server with sufficient RAM that paging activity (and thus the use of the
> pagefile) is minimized or eliminated entirely.
>
> You may find the discussion in section 2.3 of
>
> useful.
>
> To establish an "optimum" pagefile size for your system, monitor the %
> pagefile in use Performance Monitor counter (see section 2.8 of the above
> document); this will tell you how much of the current pagefile is actually
> being used. If this counter is low and disk space is at a premium, consider
> reducing the pagefile size.
>
> If I understand correctly, SQL server will manage its use of available
> memory to minimize actual pagefile use and paging activity.
>
> --
> Bruce Sanderson
>
> It's perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.
>
>
>
> "Dan DeCoursey" <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:67103FE0-3D1E-4CE5-9683-EC1B5B44FEA5@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
> > Hi Meinhof,
> > I am having problems understanding the 1st document link you gave me even
> > though I am running the 32 bit stndard edition..... that document does
> > have a
> > paragraph that compairs 32 bit vs 64 bit stuff...and in the 32 bit stuff
> > it
> > says that "windows sets up a page file that is equal to 1.5 times the
> > physical ram installed"
> >
> >
> > I remember the original pagefile on my system ( default ) was min= 2048
> > max= 4096
> > this does not seem to support that documents contention that" windows
> > sets
> > up a file that = 1.5 the physical ram".... the recommendation that 1.5
> > time
> > the ram was desired , this is what inspired me to try to get this pagefile
> > jacked up to 6144
> > which as I mentioned it seems the system prohibited this untill I put the
> > /PAE switch in the boot.ini then I could set this to 6144
> >
> > your thoughts ??
> >
> > "Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS]" wrote:
> ><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
> >> Hello Dan,
> >>
> >> Have a look here about pagefile sizes:
> >>
> >>
> >> And here about SQL in detail:
> >>
> >>
> >> Best regards
> >>
> >> Meinolf Weber
> >> Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
> >> confers
> >> no rights.
> >> ** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
> >> ** HELP us help YOU!!!
> >>
> >>
> >> > Hello,
> >> >
> >> > I readwhere it is recommended to have a pagefile = 1.5 x physical ram
> >> >
> >> > so i have 4gb and the math = setting it to 6144 if try that I
> >> > gettold to set the max to something =< 4096
> >> >
> >> > so I have added the /PAE to the boot.ini and now it let me put the
> >> > 6144 in...
> >> >
> >> > am I going in the right direction to increase performance ..... I
> >> > also run sql2005 on this unit
> >> >
> >> > thanks for any feedback
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

 

In message <D098BA7A-3ED4-472B-9C09-B972C17637B5@microsoft.com> Dan
DeCoursey <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> was claimed to have
wrote:
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>Well it seems as if I keep re iterating the same detials over and over;
>
>My server has 4gb ram installed.... you folks keep saying that 1.5 times is
>the "default" ....then why was mine set originally at minimum=2048 max=4098 ? <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

32-bit Windows has a fixed maximum of 4GB per logical partition in a
default configuration. PAE mode might change this.
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>So I then put the /PEA option in the boot.ini...then the server permitted
>me to change the pagefileto 6144 ( min and max) and it was accepted....
>
>what have I Done ? something good or bad or indifferent?
>
>installing more ram will that do anything more for me since I am running 32
>bit server 2003 standard edition ? <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

4GB is the limit for that version.

A better question is how large a page file do you need?

 

"Dan DeCoursey" <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news098BA7A-3ED4-472B-9C09-B972C17637B5@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> Hello Bruce,
>
> Well it seems as if I keep re iterating the same detials over and over;
>
> My server has 4gb ram installed.... you folks keep saying that 1.5 times
> is
> the "default" ....then why was mine set originally at minimum=2048
> max=4098 ?
> I , since, have examined a couple other servers here and they are the
> same.
> ( these servers are all the same box (hp ml350g5) configured using my
> "standard config" which is Server 2003 standard w/4gb ram) This appears to
> me
> to be the "default" 2048/4096
> The recommedation to establish a pagefile that is 1.5 times the physical
> ram
> = 6144 .. this is what I was origianlly after but when I attempted to
> make
> that change in the pagefile size.. it would say "please select a
> maximun files size that is equal to, or less than 4096"
>
> please expalin this ?
>
> So I then put the /PEA option in the boot.ini...then the server
> permitted
> me to change the pagefileto 6144 ( min and max) and it was
> accepted....
>
> what have I Done ? something good or bad or indifferent?
>
> installing more ram will that do anything more for me since I am running
> 32
> bit server 2003 standard edition ?
>
> I appreciate everyones patience in me getting a grip on this<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

The /pae (you mentioned /pea) switch allows the system to see beyond the
physical 32bit addressable spectrum. If you take 2^32, it equals to 4GB (4
294 967 296 bytes), hence the 4GB limitation and why the system would not
let you set a pagefile beyond what it can read physically. Once you set the
/pae, it now can 'address' beyond it's 4GB limit.

The reason the pagefile is not setting beyond 4GB is because it simply can't
address beyond the 4GB, because you are implying to the system that there is
more than 4GB of ram when you set it higher than 4GB, therefore it's simply
saying, in layman's terms, "I don't understand." Once the /pae is in place,
now it can address it.

FYI, a 64 bit system is 2^64 which equals to 18,446,744,073,709,551,616
bytes, (whatever denomination they call it), which is pretty large. I don't
think there's any hardware yet in production that can handle that number. If
there is, they haven't told us yet or I haven't heard of it.

Is it bad, good or indifferent? It depends on what you have running, and if
that app can truly 'read' that extra RAM the /pae is providing. SQL and
Exchange will, other apps may not.

Just to recall back to the Pentium III days, they offered a PSE (Page Size
Extension) to allow addressing up to 64 GB by adding 4 more bits to the
memory register (2^36). Not that I used it, knew anyone that used it, nor
what apps recognized it, but it existed.

More info on PAE and what it means. Keep in mind it is not a Microsoft
thing, rather it is an Intel thing (many folks don't know that) in how the
CPU addressable register area is constructed (the register in the CPU that
indicates the beginning byte and end byte of a memory area).

Physical Address Extension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIn computing,
Physical Address Extension (PAE) is a feature of some x86 and x86-64
processors that enables the use of more than 4 gigabytes of physical ...


Physical Address Extension - PAE Memory and WindowsFeb 9, 2005 ... Describes
the design issues for systems capable of supporting greater than 4 GB of
memory and for the adapters and drivers used in such ...


Operating Systems and PAE SupportJul 14, 2006 ... Describes some techniques
that Windows 2000 and several UNIX operating systems use to provide support
to applications using Physical Address Extension ...


I hope that helps!

--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
confers no rights.

Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit among
responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.

Ace Fekay, MCT, MCTS Exchange, MCSE, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSA Messaging
Microsoft Certified Trainer

For urgent issues, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check
for regional support phone numbers.

 

Thanks Ace,

So the addition of the /PAE allows me to establish a larger pagefile...
I thogut I wanted to do this because, at times, some of my SQL jobs
will"peg the page file" meaning I will see the pagefile in perfmon pegged at
100%

and since I already have the 4gb max physical ram installed I though this
was my only option... ??? Right ? The addition of more ram at this
point would not seem to be able to remedy this excessive paging ??

I guess the last step of adding the /3gb switch is the last thing I could
do ?

"Ace Fekay [MCT]" wrote:
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> "Dan DeCoursey" <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news098BA7A-3ED4-472B-9C09-B972C17637B5@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
> >
> > Hello Bruce,
> >
> > Well it seems as if I keep re iterating the same detials over and over;
> >
> > My server has 4gb ram installed.... you folks keep saying that 1.5 times
> > is
> > the "default" ....then why was mine set originally at minimum=2048
> > max=4098 ?
> > I , since, have examined a couple other servers here and they are the
> > same.
> > ( these servers are all the same box (hp ml350g5) configured using my
> > "standard config" which is Server 2003 standard w/4gb ram) This appears to
> > me
> > to be the "default" 2048/4096
> > The recommedation to establish a pagefile that is 1.5 times the physical
> > ram
> > = 6144 .. this is what I was origianlly after but when I attempted to
> > make
> > that change in the pagefile size.. it would say "please select a
> > maximun files size that is equal to, or less than 4096"
> >
> > please expalin this ?
> >
> > So I then put the /PEA option in the boot.ini...then the server
> > permitted
> > me to change the pagefileto 6144 ( min and max) and it was
> > accepted....
> >
> > what have I Done ? something good or bad or indifferent?
> >
> > installing more ram will that do anything more for me since I am running
> > 32
> > bit server 2003 standard edition ?
> >
> > I appreciate everyones patience in me getting a grip on this<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>
> The /pae (you mentioned /pea) switch allows the system to see beyond the
> physical 32bit addressable spectrum. If you take 2^32, it equals to 4GB (4
> 294 967 296 bytes), hence the 4GB limitation and why the system would not
> let you set a pagefile beyond what it can read physically. Once you set the
> /pae, it now can 'address' beyond it's 4GB limit.
>
> The reason the pagefile is not setting beyond 4GB is because it simply can't
> address beyond the 4GB, because you are implying to the system that there is
> more than 4GB of ram when you set it higher than 4GB, therefore it's simply
> saying, in layman's terms, "I don't understand." Once the /pae is in place,
> now it can address it.
>
> FYI, a 64 bit system is 2^64 which equals to 18,446,744,073,709,551,616
> bytes, (whatever denomination they call it), which is pretty large. I don't
> think there's any hardware yet in production that can handle that number. If
> there is, they haven't told us yet or I haven't heard of it.
>
> Is it bad, good or indifferent? It depends on what you have running, and if
> that app can truly 'read' that extra RAM the /pae is providing. SQL and
> Exchange will, other apps may not.
>
> Just to recall back to the Pentium III days, they offered a PSE (Page Size
> Extension) to allow addressing up to 64 GB by adding 4 more bits to the
> memory register (2^36). Not that I used it, knew anyone that used it, nor
> what apps recognized it, but it existed.
>
> More info on PAE and what it means. Keep in mind it is not a Microsoft
> thing, rather it is an Intel thing (many folks don't know that) in how the
> CPU addressable register area is constructed (the register in the CPU that
> indicates the beginning byte and end byte of a memory area).
>
> Physical Address Extension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIn computing,
> Physical Address Extension (PAE) is a feature of some x86 and x86-64
> processors that enables the use of more than 4 gigabytes of physical ...
>
>
> Physical Address Extension - PAE Memory and WindowsFeb 9, 2005 ... Describes
> the design issues for systems capable of supporting greater than 4 GB of
> memory and for the adapters and drivers used in such ...
>
>
> Operating Systems and PAE SupportJul 14, 2006 ... Describes some techniques
> that Windows 2000 and several UNIX operating systems use to provide support
> to applications using Physical Address Extension ...
>
>
> I hope that helps!
>
> --
> Ace
>
> This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
> confers no rights.
>
> Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit among
> responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.
>
> Ace Fekay, MCT, MCTS Exchange, MCSE, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSA Messaging
> Microsoft Certified Trainer
>
> For urgent issues, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check
> for regional support phone numbers.
>
>
>
>
>
> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

 

"Dan DeCoursey" <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F6EAA13D-BA4D-43C6-8335-226F1FAE74A3@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> Thanks Ace,
>
> So the addition of the /PAE allows me to establish a larger pagefile...
> I thogut I wanted to do this because, at times, some of my SQL jobs
> will"peg the page file" meaning I will see the pagefile in perfmon pegged
> at
> 100%
>
> and since I already have the 4gb max physical ram installed I though
> this
> was my only option... ??? Right ? The addition of more ram at this
> point would not seem to be able to remedy this excessive paging ??
>
> I guess the last step of adding the /3gb switch is the last thing I
> could
> do ?<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->


Yes, you can add RAM, which will reduce paging. After all, paging is an
extension of RAM, but using up hard drive space, and we know that hard
drives are much much slower than RAM. So the more you have, the more area
that applications can use to load.. The /pae allows the system to read the
additional RAM.

Ace

 

Thanks Ace...and to all that contributed ...... I appreciate all the help

"Ace Fekay [MCT]" wrote:
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> "Dan DeCoursey" <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:F6EAA13D-BA4D-43C6-8335-226F1FAE74A3@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
> > Thanks Ace,
> >
> > So the addition of the /PAE allows me to establish a larger pagefile...
> > I thogut I wanted to do this because, at times, some of my SQL jobs
> > will"peg the page file" meaning I will see the pagefile in perfmon pegged
> > at
> > 100%
> >
> > and since I already have the 4gb max physical ram installed I though
> > this
> > was my only option... ??? Right ? The addition of more ram at this
> > point would not seem to be able to remedy this excessive paging ??
> >
> > I guess the last step of adding the /3gb switch is the last thing I
> > could
> > do ?<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>
>
> Yes, you can add RAM, which will reduce paging. After all, paging is an
> extension of RAM, but using up hard drive space, and we know that hard
> drives are much much slower than RAM. So the more you have, the more area
> that applications can use to load.. The /pae allows the system to read the
> additional RAM.
>
> Ace
>
> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

 

"Dan DeCoursey" <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:976B9EA8-1868-4954-B149-6F30A6A8278A@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> Thanks Ace...and to all that contributed ...... I appreciate all the help
><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->


My pleasure!

Ace

 

You could use the /3GB switch. This will increase the size of the virtual
address space available to SQL Server and should reduce paging activity.

If some of the "jobs" are using all the available pagefile, I suggest adding
more RAM to the server, if the hardware and the Windows Server version
installed support it (see the section 2.4 of
).

If the hardware can not support more than 4 GB of RAM, if the budget allows
it, I suggest replacing it - almost any "server" hardware (and many
"desktop" computers) you could buy today can have more than 4 GB of RAM -
you don't need a "high end" system to get that (for example the two
"desktop" machines I have at home both have 8 GB RAM and cost about $1200
CDN each. For business critical operations of course you would want to have
some built-in redundancy, error correcting RAM etc. which costs more.)

According to
, SQL Server
2005 (and 2008) can use AWE which would also benefit from additional RAM-
see


and
section 2.6 of


If an upgrade is practical, using 64 bit Windows and 64 bit SQL Server on
hardware with sufficient RAM would be beneficial and simplify memory
management (no need for PAE or AWE) (note that Windows Server 2008 R2 is 64
bit only).

--
Bruce Sanderson

It's perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.



"Dan DeCoursey" <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F6EAA13D-BA4D-43C6-8335-226F1FAE74A3@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> Thanks Ace,
>
> So the addition of the /PAE allows me to establish a larger pagefile...
> I thogut I wanted to do this because, at times, some of my SQL jobs
> will"peg the page file" meaning I will see the pagefile in perfmon pegged
> at
> 100%
>
> and since I already have the 4gb max physical ram installed I though
> this
> was my only option... ??? Right ? The addition of more ram at this
> point would not seem to be able to remedy this excessive paging ??
>
> I guess the last step of adding the /3gb switch is the last thing I
> could
> do ?
>
> "Ace Fekay [MCT]" wrote:
><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> "Dan DeCoursey" <DanDeCoursey@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news098BA7A-3ED4-472B-9C09-B972C17637B5@microsoft.com...<!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>> >
>> > Hello Bruce,
>> >
>> > Well it seems as if I keep re iterating the same detials over and over;
>> >
>> > My server has 4gb ram installed.... you folks keep saying that 1.5
>> > times
>> > is
>> > the "default" ....then why was mine set originally at minimum=2048
>> > max=4098 ?
>> > I , since, have examined a couple other servers here and they are the
>> > same.
>> > ( these servers are all the same box (hp ml350g5) configured using my
>> > "standard config" which is Server 2003 standard w/4gb ram) This appears
>> > to
>> > me
>> > to be the "default" 2048/4096
>> > The recommedation to establish a pagefile that is 1.5 times the
>> > physical
>> > ram
>> > = 6144 .. this is what I was origianlly after but when I attempted to
>> > make
>> > that change in the pagefile size.. it would say "please select a
>> > maximun files size that is equal to, or less than 4096"
>> >
>> > please expalin this ?
>> >
>> > So I then put the /PEA option in the boot.ini...then the server
>> > permitted
>> > me to change the pagefileto 6144 ( min and max) and it was
>> > accepted....
>> >
>> > what have I Done ? something good or bad or indifferent?
>> >
>> > installing more ram will that do anything more for me since I am
>> > running
>> > 32
>> > bit server 2003 standard edition ?
>> >
>> > I appreciate everyones patience in me getting a grip on this<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>>
>> The /pae (you mentioned /pea) switch allows the system to see beyond the
>> physical 32bit addressable spectrum. If you take 2^32, it equals to 4GB
>> (4
>> 294 967 296 bytes), hence the 4GB limitation and why the system would not
>> let you set a pagefile beyond what it can read physically. Once you set
>> the
>> /pae, it now can 'address' beyond it's 4GB limit.
>>
>> The reason the pagefile is not setting beyond 4GB is because it simply
>> can't
>> address beyond the 4GB, because you are implying to the system that there
>> is
>> more than 4GB of ram when you set it higher than 4GB, therefore it's
>> simply
>> saying, in layman's terms, "I don't understand." Once the /pae is in
>> place,
>> now it can address it.
>>
>> FYI, a 64 bit system is 2^64 which equals to 18,446,744,073,709,551,616
>> bytes, (whatever denomination they call it), which is pretty large. I
>> don't
>> think there's any hardware yet in production that can handle that number.
>> If
>> there is, they haven't told us yet or I haven't heard of it.
>>
>> Is it bad, good or indifferent? It depends on what you have running, and
>> if
>> that app can truly 'read' that extra RAM the /pae is providing. SQL and
>> Exchange will, other apps may not.
>>
>> Just to recall back to the Pentium III days, they offered a PSE (Page
>> Size
>> Extension) to allow addressing up to 64 GB by adding 4 more bits to the
>> memory register (2^36). Not that I used it, knew anyone that used it, nor
>> what apps recognized it, but it existed.
>>
>> More info on PAE and what it means. Keep in mind it is not a Microsoft
>> thing, rather it is an Intel thing (many folks don't know that) in how
>> the
>> CPU addressable register area is constructed (the register in the CPU
>> that
>> indicates the beginning byte and end byte of a memory area).
>>
>> Physical Address Extension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIn
>> computing,
>> Physical Address Extension (PAE) is a feature of some x86 and x86-64
>> processors that enables the use of more than 4 gigabytes of physical ...
>>
>>
>> Physical Address Extension - PAE Memory and WindowsFeb 9, 2005 ...
>> Describes
>> the design issues for systems capable of supporting greater than 4 GB of
>> memory and for the adapters and drivers used in such ...
>>
>>
>> Operating Systems and PAE SupportJul 14, 2006 ... Describes some
>> techniques
>> that Windows 2000 and several UNIX operating systems use to provide
>> support
>> to applications using Physical Address Extension ...
>>
>>
>> I hope that helps!
>>
>> --
>> Ace
>>
>> This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
>> confers no rights.
>>
>> Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit
>> among
>> responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.
>>
>> Ace Fekay, MCT, MCTS Exchange, MCSE, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSA Messaging
>> Microsoft Certified Trainer
>>
>> For urgent issues, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check
>> for regional support phone numbers.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->