WSUS 3.0: DB eating up too much RAM

[Matt Brown - identify]

At one of my clients, the db "MICROSOFT##SSEE" is eating up way to
much RAM.

How do I adjust the amount of RAM it can use?

Thanks,

Matt Brown

[Lawrence Garvin [MVP]]

"Matt Brown - identify" <Matthe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:e75d1ca7-eb8f-4ad7...@e67g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...

> At one of my clients, the db "MICROSOFT##SSEE" is eating up way to
> much RAM.

Define "way too much RAM". How much of this "RAM" is actually paged memory
vs physical memory?

How much physical memory is installed in the server?

What is the size of the configured paging file(s)?

What other processes/services are running on this server?

What os/edition/version is installed on the server?

How many systems are being updated by that WSUS server at your client's
site?

How often do those client systems execute a detection/reporting event?

> How do I adjust the amount of RAM it can use?

You don't.

What do you know about how SQL Server uses memory?

If it truly is using an excessive amount of memory (physical or paging), you
identify and remediate the cause of the excessive memory usage, which will
result in an immediate reduction in the amount of memory being consumed.

--
Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCITP, MCTS(x4), MCBMSP, MCP
Senior Data Architect, APQC, Houston, Texas
Microsoft MVP - Software Distribution (2005-2008)

MS WSUS Website: http://www.microsoft.com/wsus
My Websites: http://www.onsitechsolutions.com;
http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
My MVP Profile: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Lawrence.Garvin

[Matt Brown - identify]

Thanks for replying:

Define "way too much RAM". How much of this "RAM" is actually paged
memory
vs physical memory?

I'd like it to not use more than 512MB. It was using 1.5GB. The only
"service" that relies on the Windows Internal Database that we are
using is WSUS (no sharepoint, etc.). I had read previously to
installing the best practices for RAM, etc.

How much physical memory is installed in the server?

3.5GB

What is the size of the configured paging file(s)?

2GB

What other processes/services are running on this server?

Our devs run a few, it's a DC (but has no FSMO roles), DFS Member,

What os/edition/version is installed on the server?

2003 R2 Standard

How many systems are being updated by that WSUS server at your
client's
site?

25-50

How often do those client systems execute a detection/reporting
event?

Once a week

I found SQL Server Management Studio Express, and would like to use
this. (http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2008/03/31/how-to-
throttle-bcm-s-memory-use-or-any-sql-instance-for-that-matter.aspx)

However, I can not connect to the given DB and have sent a post to the
sqlserver newsgroup:

For ease, here's the google groups link:
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.sqlserver.server/browse_thread/thread/a3b2814efc257cc/8087c81ef3d8af6b?lnk=st&q=#8087c81ef3d8af6b

I have crossed the hurdle of how to configure, but now can not
connect.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks,

Matt

On Apr 17, 3:21 pm, "Lawrence Garvin [MVP]" <ons...@news.postalias>
wrote:
> "Matt Brown - identify" <MatthewBr...@gmail.com> wrote in messagenews:e75d1ca7-eb8f-4ad7...@e67g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...

[Lawrence Garvin [MVP]]

"Matt Brown - identify" <Matthe...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:1b9ea334-06c9-4d98...@p25g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

> Define "way too much RAM". How much of this "RAM" is actually paged
> memory vs physical memory?

> I'd like it to not use more than 512MB.

Probably not a realistic expectation.

> It was using 1.5GB.

A SQL Server database service will use as much memory as is needed and
available to service the load requirements of the moment. When the memory is
not needed (and something else wants it), SQL Server will relinquish any
previously claimed (but now unused) memory.

Using 1.5GB is the maximum amount of memory that edition can use.

> How much physical memory is installed in the server?
> 3.5GB

I would venture a guess that it's "using" 1.5GB memory because nothign else
is running on the server, you have 3.5GB available memory, and the memory is
available for the taking.

btw.. if nothing else is running on the server ---- why would you want to
manage the memory consumption?

I'd bet you've got about 1.5GB of UNUSED memory on that server right now.

> How often do those client systems execute a detection/reporting
> event?
> Once a week

Uh.. no, by default it executes every 22 hours, so I'll assume that to be
the case.

The *installation* event may be once-per-week.

> I found SQL Server Management Studio Express, and would like to use
> this. (http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2008/03/31/how-to-
> throttle-bcm-s-memory-use-or-any-sql-instance-for-that-matter.aspx)
>
> However, I can not connect to the given DB and have sent a post to the
> sqlserver newsgroup:

And the answer you'll get back is that Windows Internal Database does not
support connections across network protocols. You'll need to enable "Named
Pipes" in the database server, and then configure Express Studio to use
"Named Pipes" as it's default connection method.

[Matt Brown - identify]

On Apr 17, 10:32 pm, "Lawrence Garvin [MVP]" <ons...@news.postalias>
wrote:
> "Matt Brown - identify" <MatthewBr...@gmail.com> wrote in messagenews:1b9ea334-06c9-4d98...@p25g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

Thanks for your quick replies.

Thanks for your advice, but I'd rather not concentrate on why I'm
doing what I'm doing, just doing it.

> And the answer you'll get back is that Windows Internal Database does not
> support connections across network protocols. You'll need to enable "Named
> Pipes" in the database server, and then configure Express Studio to use
> "Named Pipes" as it's default connection method.

I have enabled allow connections through named pipes, and have
explicitly selected connect via Named Pipes.
This did not work.

[Ken Schaefer]

Hi Matt,

Both the Windows internal DB, and SQL Server will dynamically
expand/contract their RAM usage depending on the available free RAM in the
machine. This is to allow caching of tables in memory. When Windows reports
a "Low Memory Condition" (it's an event that can be raised), SQL Server
starts purging its in-memory caches to make more RAM available to the system
for other tasks.

Usually (i.e. in >99% of cases) there should be no issue with this. Yes,
you'll see SQL Server using a lot of private bytes in Task Manager, but
other operations on the machine should not be affected.

In case there is an effect, you can limit the amount of RAM that SQL Server
is using (it's easy to do using SQL MAnagement Studio as there is a GUI
option, or you can use a command line tool to run the necessary
reconfiguration sproc). However, doing this is not recommended unless you
have a good reason to - as it will adversely impact SQL Server performance.

Cheers
Ken

--
My IIS blog: http://adopenstatic.com/blog

"Matt Brown - identify" <Matthe...@gmail.com> wrote in message

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