Comments on: SQL Server 2005 and AWE Memory

By: Tamria

Tamria — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:31:45 +0000

Jim,
I have a SQL SERVER 2005 sp2 box running on a Windows 2003 OS. THere are 8 processors and 16G of RAM. Just installed. I checked the AWE checkbox. Using perfmon I saw that memory is not being consumed by SQL SERVER. I have installed SQL SERVER 2005 12 times and this is the first time I am having a problem getting SQL SERVER to recognize and consume memory on the box. Any ideas?

SQLServer:Memory Manager Target Server Memory (KB) 13670048 65792
SQLServer:Memory Manager Total Server Memory (KB) 27392 65792

By: JimMcLeod.Net » Blog Archive » Quick Tip #2 - Are You Using All Your Memory?

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:19:28 +0000

[...] information on how to configure AWE, see my previous post for 2005, or for SQL Server [...]

By: Serik

Serik — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:16:47 +0000

Thanks Jim. I feel now comfortable

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:15:03 +0000

Hi Serik,

The Target Server Memory shows that SQL Server expects to use ~6GB of memory, and the Total Server Memory shows that it’s currently using 2.6 GB. This appears as though you’ve got everything configured correctly, especially as you don’t have the /3GB switch – you’d see Total Server Memory capped at about 1600 MB. Keep monitoring it, especially during peak periods, and you should see it start to creep towards the 6 GB mark, unless your database is only 2-3 GB in size.

By: Serik

Serik — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:36:09 +0000

Thanks Jim.
Query shows:
——————–
SQLServer:Memory Manager Target Server Memory (KB) 6291456 65792
SQLServer:Memory Manager Total Server Memory (KB) 2677248 65792
————————

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:47:19 +0000

Hi Serik,

I wouldn’t worry about what SQL Agent’s log file says. I had a quick look at one of my servers, and the SQL Agent log also shows 4 GB RAM, even though the server has 16, and SQL Server is properly configured. My theory is that as SQL Agent is a 32-bit program, 4 GB is the maximum it can address, so that’s all the Agent log will display. I wonder what a 64-bit SQL Agent log will say…

To find out exactly what memory SQL Server is using, run this code inside Management Studio. If it reports more than 3 GB, you’ve got the AWE configured correctly.

SELECT * FROM sys.dm_os_performance_counters
WHERE counter_name IN (’Target Server Memory (KB)’,’Total Server Memory (KB)’)

Good luck!

By: Serik

Serik — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:00:42 +0000

Jim, thanks for article.

I have a question. I have Windows 2003 Enterprise 8CPU and 8 GB RAM. OS see 8GB. Also I have on this server SQL2005 Enterprise. I enabled AWE in SQL. I wonder why SQL Agent’s log shows 4096MB RAM?

Should I add /PAE /3G in boot.ini file?

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:00:41 +0000

Hi Tom,

This is normal – SQL Server’s AWE memory consumption is not measured by Task Manager.

You can use “DBCC MemoryStatus”, or Perfmon counters to find out exactly what SQL Server is using. I like to use the Perfmon counters from within SQL Server. Run:

SELECT * FROM sys.dm_os_performance_counters
WHERE counter_name IN (’Target Server Memory (KB)’,'Total Server Memory (KB)’)

Look at the cntr_value. Target Server Memory is the current maximum limit that SQL Server will use, and Total Server Memory is the amount the server is currently using.

By: Tom Gibbons

Tom Gibbons — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:06:13 +0000

Hi, after doing all this instruction we are only seeing 190-210 mb memory usage for SQL in Taskmgr – do you know why this could be?

By: SQL Server 2005 and AWE | StupidProgrammer.com

SQL Server 2005 and AWE | StupidProgrammer.com — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:41:52 +0000

[...] Quote from this AWESOME article (I encourage you to check it out… Jim knows more on this subject than I do… [...]