Configuring Virtual Memory

Microsoft® Windows NT® virtual memory size should be configured based on the services concurrently running on the computer. When running Microsoft SQL Server™, consider setting the virtual memory size to 1.5 times the physical memory installed in the computer.

If you have additionally installed the Full-Text Search feature and plan to run the Microsoft Search service so that you can do full-text indexing and querying, consider configuring:

• The virtual memory size to at least 3 times the physical memory installed in the computer.
• The SQL Server max server memory server configuration option to 1.5 times the physical memory (half the virtual memory size setting).

If the virtual memory setting is configured too low, then the following Windows NT error can occur:

Your system is running low on virtual memory. Please close some applications. You can then start the System option in the Control Panel and choose the Virtual Memory button to create an additional paging file or increase the size of your current paging file.

To configure virtual memory

To configure the max server memory