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PostgreSQL 8.4.3 Linux Redhat 5.0 Question: How much memory do I really need? From my understanding there are two primary strategies for
setting up PostgreSQL in relationship to memory: 1)
Rely on Linux to cache the files. In this
approach you set the shared_buffers to a relatively low number. 2)
You can set shared_buffers to a very large percentage
of your memory so that PostgreSQL reserves the memory for the database. I am currently using option #1. I have 24 Gig of
memory on my server and the database takes up 17 Gig of disk space. When
I do the Linux command “top” I notice that 19 Gig is allocated for
cache. Is there a way for me to tell how much of that cache is associated
with the caching of database files? I am basically asking how much memory do I really
need? Maybe I have complete over kill. Maybe I am getting to a
point where I might need more memory. My thought was I could use option #2 and then set the number
to a lower amount. If the performance is bad then slowly work the number
up. Our server manager seems to think that I have way to much
memory. He thinks that we only need 5 Gig. I don’t really
believe that. But I want to cover myself. With money tight I don’t
want to be the person who is wasting resources. We need to replace our
database servers so I want to do the right thing. Thanks, Lance Campbell Software Architect/DBA/Project Manager Web Services at Public Affairs 217-333-0382 |
