> Thanks for the information Claus, Why would reducing the effective cache > size help the processor usage? It seems that there is plenty of resources > on the box although I can see that 10MB of sort space could mount up if we > had 500 connections but at the moment we do not have anything like that > number. There is a discussion at http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2005-06/msg00477.php which can give a clearer picture. But in general rasing values can be counterproductive. If you know that you won't need more than 250 connections that would be a reasonable value. You may wan't to read http://www.varlena.com/GeneralBits/Tidbits/annotated_conf_e.html as well. This has some rules of thumb on the settings for 7.4.x. -- regards Claus When lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentlest gamester is the soonest winner. Shakespeare ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 5: don't forget to increase your free space map settings