Processor Affinty & load distribution

[mutley1]

Afternoon all,

Sorry if this is a no brainer for you, but i have looked all over the shop and can't find a straightforward answer, and not overly familiar with the hardware side of things yet.
I have 4 servers running on SQL 7, and all 4 are quad intell 500mhz processors. In SQL, i have the affinty set to 7 (i.e. use 0, 1 and 2). The basic question is does SQL try (unless directed by a MAXDOP 1) to distribute the load evenly across these 3 processors, or will there be some occasions (as i say EXCLUDING the MAXDOP1) when it might just use the first processor as much as it can? I don't get it that often, but occasionally it decided to hog one entire CPU and only use a little on the others. It is no particular process, and as far as i can see, i have no queries with a MAXDOP in them. Any thoughts welcome!

Thanks in advance,

M.

 

[mrdenny]

The SQL Server will decide to use one processor, or more than one processor while running queries. For some queries, it will spike a processor to 100% instead of using more than one processor.

This is normal. If you see this happening often, check the basics to try to clean up the query. Joins, indexes, etc.

Denny

Between the ESP=ON and the RUM (Read Users Mind) upgrade, I'm ready to go.