SQL 2005 32-bit - Memory for Instances

Question

We have a SQL Server 2K5 installation on a Windows 2003 R2 server with eight cores and 16GB of RAM. While it's in our plan to upgrade it to 64-bit, for now we are on the 32-bit version.

Currently we have one instance set to use all available memory, but need to run two instances. Given that this is 32-bit and this would be two separate SQL2K5 instances, would I have two instances contending for the first 4GB, or would they both be able to address 4GB+?

Thanks! -Bob

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 03 '10 at 16:35

0

They can both use more than 4GB. But:

You need PAE activated (/PAE in boot.ini)
You need Windows enterprise at least
You need enterprise SQL Server Version
all memory > 4GB will be used only as cache. Can't use to store objects & co

You should go 64 bit as soon as possible

answered Feb 03 '10 at 16:35

Mathieu Chateau

3,185
16
10

Thanks for the quick reply! We're on SQL2K5 standard, Windows 2003 Enterprise. What effect does being on SQL2K5 standard have on this problem? – Bob Palmer Feb 03 '10 at 16:37

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 03 '10 at 17:55

0

You don't need SQL 2005 Enterprise Edition for using AWE - Standard will work fine. See this TechNet link.

answered Feb 03 '10 at 17:55

Paul Randal

7,194
1
36
45

You are right of course Paul. My fault, i went on this page but i stop reading after the "enterprise" word, like an idiot – Mathieu Chateau Feb 03 '10 at 18:50

SQL 2005 32-bit - Memory for Instances

2 Answers2