Paging file optimization

From espinola.net

On This Page 1 Paging file optimally should: 2 Paging file optimally never should: 3 Pagefile sizes: 4 References 4.1 Microsoft

Paging file optimally should:

1. be at least a total of 1.5 times the size of phyical memory.
2. be kept defragmented, as one contiguous file to benefit from reduced disk I/O.
3. configured to a static minimal/initial and maximum size of the same value to prevent future fragmentation.
4. be split across multiple physical disks to benefit from reduced disk I/O (and Windows built-in algorythm to adaptively use the least-used disk on XP and higher systems).
5. have a minority footprint of at least 2 MB on the system disk for startup and crash debug purposes.
6. have a majority footprint on a physical disk with the least ammount of expected disk I/O.

Paging file optimally never should:

1. be broken across multiple partions of the same physical disk, as this increases disk I/O.

Pagefile sizes:

• Recommended minimum: 1.5x RAM.
• Maximum size: 3x RAM up to 4 GB per volume w/o PAE or multi-file registry hack.

References

Microsoft

• Article ID: 197379 - Configuring paging files for optimization and recovery in Windows Server 2003, in Windows 2000, and in Windows NT
• Article ID: 237740 - How to overcome the 4,095 MB paging file size limit in Windows
• Article ID: 314482 - How to configure paging files for optimization and recovery in Windows XP
• Article ID: 889654 - How to determine the appropriate page file size for 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP
• TechNet Library - Change the size of the virtual memory paging file
• TechNet Library - Optimizing the paging file size and location
• TechNet Library - Changing the default paging file size on large-memory computers
• Windows Help and How-to - Get maximum performance from Windows Vista