SQL SERVER 2012 - MEMORY MANAGEMENT

1,

The following table indicates whether a specific type of memory allocation is controlled by themax server memory (MB) and min server memory (MB) configuration options.

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Type of memory allocation	SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2	SQL Server 2012
Single-page allocations	Yes	Yes, consolidated into "any size" page allocations
Multi-page allocations	No	Yes, consolidated into "any size" page allocations
CLR allocations	No	Yes
Thread stacks memory	No	No
Direct allocations from Windows	No	No

 

2,

 The following table provides the requirements to enable "locked pages" in different versions and editions of SQL Server on different platforms:

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	Enterprise Edition, Data Center Edition	Standard Edition, Business Intelligence Edition	Other editions
SQL 2012 (32-bit and 64-bit)	• Assign LPIM user right to SQL Startup account	• Assign LPIM user right to SQL Startup account	No support for "locked pages"
SQL Server 2005/2008/2008R2 (32-bit)	• Assign LPIM user right to SQL Startup account • Configure 'awe enabled' option to 1	• Assign LPIM user right to SQL Startup account • Configure 'awe enabled' option to 1	No support for "locked pages"
SQL Server 2005/2008/2008R2 (64-bit)	• Assign LPIM user right to SQL Startup account	• Assign LPIM user right to SQL Startup account • Apply SQL Hotfix KBA 970070 • Enable trace flag 845	No support for "locked pages"

 

The LPIM user right refers to the "Lock Pages in Memory" Windows user right. This user right should be assigned to the SQL Server service startup account.

You do not have to use Trace Flag 845 in SQL Server 2012. You can remove this trace flag from the startup parameters after you upgrade your instance to SQL 2012.

Even though the "awe enabled" feature is not available in 32-bit SQL Server 2012, you can still use the "locked pages" feature by assigning the "lock pages in memory" user right for the SQL Server startup account.

When you enable "locked pages," it is very important to set an appropriate value for "max server memory" and for "min server memory" configuration options for each instance of SQL Server to avoid system-wide problems.

Use the following methods to determine whether the SQL Server 2012 instance is using "locked pages":

• The output of the following TSQL query will indicate nonzero values for locked_page_allocations_kb:
  
  
  select osn.node_id, osn.memory_node_id, osn.node_state_desc, omn. locked_page_allocations_kb
  from sys.dm_os_memory_nodes omn
  inner join sys.dm_os_nodes osn on (omn.memory_node_id = osn.memory_node_id)
  where osn.node_state_desc <> 'ONLINE DAC'
• The current SQL Server error log will report the following message during server startup:
  
  Using locked pages in the memory manager
• The "Memory Manager" section of the DBCC MEMORYSTATUS output will show a nonzero value for the "AWE Allocated" item.The following table provides more information about the products or tools that automatically check for this condition on your instance of SQL Server and on the versions of the SQL Server product against which the rule is evaluated.

The following table provides more information about the products or tools that automatically check for this condition on your instance of SQL Server and on the versions of the SQL Server product against which the rule is evaluated.

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Rule software	Rule title	Rule description	Product versions against which the rule is evaluated
SQL Server setup Upgrade Rules	LPIM check for x64 installations	Consider the following scenario on an X64 system: You install SQL Server [2008 R2, 2008, 2005] standard edition. You grant the "Lock Pages in Memory" user right to the SQL Server service startup account. You did not enable the trace flag 845, as a result the SQL Server instance did not use locked page allocations. Now you attempt to upgrade this SQL Server instance to SQL Server 2012. Now the upgraded SQL Server instance starts using locked page allocations. This upgrade rule warns you about this change in behavior.	SQL Server 2008 SQL Server 2008 R2
SQL Server setup Upgrade Rules	LPIM check for x86 installations	Consider the following scenario on an X86 system: You install SQL Server [2008 R2, 2008, 2005] standard edition. You grant the "Lock Pages in Memory" user right to the SQL Server service startup account. You did not setup and configure the ‘awe enabled’ feature, as a result the SQL Server instance did not use locked pages allocations. Now you attempt to upgrade this SQL Server instance to SQL Server 2012. Now the upgraded SQL Server instance starts using locked page allocations. This upgrade rule warns you about this change in behavior.	SQL Server 2008 SQL Server 2008 R2

 

 

3,

The following table indicates whether a specific type of memory allocation falls into the memory_to_reserve region of virtual address space for the SQL Server process.

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Type of memory allocation	SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2	SQL Server 2012
Single-page allocations	No	No, consolidated into "any size" page allocations
Multi-page allocations	Yes	No, consolidated into "any size" page allocations
CLR allocations	Yes	Yes
Thread stacks memory	Yes	Yes
Direct allocations from Windows	Yes	Yes