Understanding swap size in Windows 2000 Server

by Jim Boyce | Dec 11, 2006 8:00:00 AM

Tags: Memory, Servers, Jim Boyce, Microsoft Windows 2000, RAM, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, server, paging, paging file, Microsoft Windows, Windows 2000 Server Tips Newsletter

Takeaway: Are you familiar with your paging file? It's one way your Windows 2000 Server allocates data in a way that optimizes your RAM. Here's what you need to know about the paging file, swap size, and virtual memory configuration.

The paging file is one of the most important operational aspects of a well-functioning Windows 2000 Server. Considering how cheap hard drive space is these days, it's really not all that difficult to keep your servers in storage space.

Some of that space, called a paging file, is allocated for use by the system. As soon as RAM fills up (in the managed fashion that Windows 2000 Server uses RAM), the system "swaps" the least-used chunks of data to the paging file. The OS uses this space as virtual RAM so it can use more RAM than it really has. Consider a sample Windows 2000 server running Terminal Services and MetaFrame 1.8 that has 128 MB of RAM. It has automatically set aside 192-384 MB of hard drive space for use as a paging file.

This follows the general rule that you should configure the virtual memory for one and a half times your physical RAM. The sample server ranges to up to three times the physical RAM because of the Terminal Services and MetaFrame installations. Such operations require large amounts of system resources. Other installations that require similar resource allocation are SQL Server and any serious public access IIS operations.

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Print/View all Posts Comments on this article

Not very usefulrasilon  | 12/12/06

DittoLegalAlien  | 12/12/06

RAM Drivethensley@...  | 12/12/06

1Gb? That is soooo Olllld!The Admiral  | 12/13/06

Focus on the prizethensley@...  | 12/14/06

Welcome to Jim Boycembrown@...  | 12/12/06

Swap File / PagefileJoanne Lowery  | 12/14/06

Great attitude - need morethensley@...  | 12/14/06

Load Kernel to RAM (and avoid pagefile)Joanne Lowery  | 12/29/06

sigh!Jayanth  | 12/12/06

Target Audience?agilebrainz@...  | 12/12/06

And.....?Lateralnetworking(TM)  | 12/12/06

Needed more information to make usefulITEngineerGuy  | 12/12/06

Thanks for the link.fmendez  | 12/12/06

And/Or Set swap file to staticwiggledbits  | 12/12/06

AgreedITEngineerGuy  | 12/13/06

I agreefmendez  | 12/13/06

Great ArticleITEngineerGuy  | 12/14/06

Tech "Savvy"jprice@...  | 12/12/06

Understanding swap size - my foot!stefan@...  | 12/12/06

Swap File 101 - duhDarinR  | 12/12/06

Not even swap file 101sudduth  | 12/12/06

Article, yes. Useful - NO!blarman  | 12/12/06

This is a joke, right?johncymru  | 12/12/06

No, Jim Boyce's Articles are a joke.mbrown@...  | 12/12/06

Wow.Anthony.V  | 12/12/06

About as useful as an ashtry on a motorbike....shaun.russell1@...  | 12/13/06

Swap Filepapusm@...  | 12/14/06