Paging File Question

[zoeythecat]

Hi All,

What is the recommended way to configure a paging file on a Windows2008 Server? System managed or Custom?

TIA

 

[pagy]

I just let the system manage it nowadays. Back with w2k I would have customised it but not since then.

Do you have a specific use for the server that you think may require a custom set pagefile??

Paul
MCTS: Exchange 2007, Configuration
MCSA:2003
MCSE:2003
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator

RFC 2795 - The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)

http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2795.html

 

[zoeythecat]

I've actually read up on this since posting and some articles mention that the system should not be used to manage the paging file by itself becuase of possible fragmentation. I decided to set a custom paging file of 15gig (I just set the paging file based on what windows recommended). This server is housing Exchange2007 so I wanted to get this right.

 

[58sniper]

Well, fragementation can occur regardless of how it's managed. To avoid fragmentaton, you'd need to put the paging file on its own volume. That's typically what I do. I configure a partition for the OS, and a partition for the paging file. If those are on the same RAID array, you're still not going to have fragmentation because the paging file is still on its own volume - nothing else causing fragmentation.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[zoeythecat]

Thanks Pat...I'm just trying to figure out what is causing our Exchange2007 server to run at 90% memory utilization. We do have the paging file on the system volume and it is on a RAID50. The store.exe file is using most of it, about 7GIG (is this normal)? This server runs on a VM/VMWARE environment. Based on this, do you think with me changing this to custom paging file versus a system paging file will help (I won't know until after the reboot of our server)?

Thanks for the replies.

 

[zoeythecat]

You still need a paging file on the OS partition though, correct?

 

[58sniper]

Depends. Technically, it's not required. It's only needed if you want to be able to do core dumps for analysis by PSS. In ~20 years, I've done that once.

Exchange is RAM intesive, as it caches a lot of info. Data cached in memory is far faster than data on drives. Exchange will use most available memory by design. It will give some back if requested by the OS.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[zoeythecat]

Pat,

Thanks for your input.