SQL 2000 Ent Ed, Wndows 2003 Ent Ed RAM 1

[wbodger]

So, I believe I found that answer to this, but just to clarify...

I can have 4Gb of RAM on my Windows 2003 server Enterprise Edition Service Pack 1 machine *without* the switch in my boot.ini file, right? Nothing special I need to do for it to recognize > 2 GB of RAM?

And then I enable AWE in SQL 2000 sp4 so that it can use the extra RAM, right?

This is a dedicated SQL box, nothing else on it, but as it is our production server I want to make sure before I do anything with it.

Thanks,
Willie

 

[mrdenny]

Windows 2003 SP1 will automatically add the /PAE switch on boot up. Adding the /3GB switch should be done. (Since you are going in there you may as well add the /PAE swich as well.)

Then enable AWE, restrict SQL to 3.5 Gigs of RAM and you are set.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[wbodger]

So, then would this line:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003, Enterprise" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut

become:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003, Enterprise" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut /PAE /3GB

The searching I have done seems to assume you are a sysadmin if you are looking into this. I'm not.

 

[mrdenny]

Correct, that's what it should look like.

Stuff of this nature is normaly done by a sysadmin or DBA, and most of the docs unfornitually assume that you already know what they are talking about. For some reason many docs aren't written for someone who is new to the tech.

But that's why sites like this exist.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[wbodger]

Yes, thank you very much!

 

[SQLBill]

One thing to remember...setting AWE requires stopping and starting SQL Server Services.

-SQLBill

Posting advice: FAQ481-4875

 

[mrdenny]

Yeah, I probably should have mentioned that, sorry.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[wbodger]

That's OK, so does adding more RAM...

My plan was:
1) Edit the boot.ini file
2) Stop Services and shut down server
3) Install more RAM
4) Start everything back up
5) Run
SP_CONFIGURE 'show advanced options', 1
RECONFIGURE
GO

SP_CONFIGURE 'awe enabled', 1
RECONFIGURE
GO

SP_CONFIGURE 'max server memory', 3584 (assuming I go up to 4Gb of RAM)
RECONFIGURE
GO
6) Stop and restart SQL Server to apply the changes?

Did I miss anything?

Willie

 

[mrdenny]

Sounds right to me.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[fuzzyocelot]

Thanks to all for this thread!! I've been pulling my hair out trying to research and figure out stuff about AWE and what to do if we enable it! Now it's finally clicked! Woo hoo!

I do have one question on this subject, though. I've read somewhere that it's not good to enable AWE on multiple instances on a SQL 2000 cluster. Is this true? I looked at our production server recently (which is on a cluster) and all three instances have AWE enabled. It was set up before I started working here. I guess it makes sense if I think about it real hard but I just want to get some opinions on it.

Thanks!!!

 

[mrdenny]

There isn't a problem enabeling AWE when there are more than one instance on a machine. Just make sure that there is enough RAM for each instance of SQL to use the memory that it wants to use.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[fuzzyocelot]

Thank you! Also, what are your thoughts (and anyone else's) on AWE for SQL 2005? I know I need to research it, but am curious if anyone has tried it yet, if it's a good idea, etc...

 

[mrdenny]

It works fine.

I did notice an issue when I had AWE enabled, but had SQL Server set to use less than 2 Gigs of RAM. It starting doing some weird stuff.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com