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Winddows Home Server 2011 : Optimizing Virtual Memory

9/27/2013 7:20:35 PM

No matter how much main memory your system boasts, Windows Home Server still creates and uses a paging file for virtual memory. To maximize paging file performance, ensure that Windows Home Server is working with the paging file optimally. The next few sections present some techniques that help you do just that.

Storing the Paging File Optimally

The location of the paging file can have a major impact on its performance. There are three things you should consider:

  • If you have multiple physical hard disks, store the paging file on the hard disk that has the fastest access time— You’ll see later in this section that you can tell Windows Home Server which hard disk to use for the paging file.

  • Store the paging file on an uncompressed partition— Windows Home Server is happy to store the paging file on a compressed NTFS partition. However, as with all file operations on a compressed partition, the performance of paging file operations suffers because of the compression and decompression required. Therefore, you should store the paging file on an uncompressed partition.

  • If you have multiple hard disks, store the paging file on the hard disk that has the most free space— Windows Home Server expands and contracts the paging file dynamically depending on the system’s needs. Storing the paging file on the disk with the most space gives Windows Home Server the most flexibility.

Customizing the Paging File Size

By default, Windows Home Server sets the initial size of the paging file to 1.5 times the amount of RAM in your system, and it sets the maximum size of the paging file to 3 times the amount of RAM. For example, on a system with 1GB RAM, the paging file’s initial size will be 1.5GB, and its maximum size will be 3GB. The default values work well on most systems, but you might want to customize these sizes to suit your own configuration. Here are some notes about custom paging file sizes:

  • The less RAM you have, the more likely it is that Windows Home Server will use the paging file, so the Windows Home Server default paging file sizes make sense. If your computer has less than 1GB RAM (unlikely, because that is the minimum amount of RAM required for Windows Home Server 2011) you should leave the paging file sizes as is.

  • The more RAM you have, the less likely it is that Windows Home Server will use the paging file. Therefore, the default initial paging file size is too large and the disk space reserved by Windows Home Server is wasted. On systems with more than 1GB RAM, you should set the initial paging file size to half the RAM size, while leaving the maximum size at three times the RAM, just in case.

  • If disk space on drive C: is at a premium, set the initial paging file size to 16MB (the minimum size supported by Windows Home Server). This should eventually result in the smallest possible paging file, but you’ll see a bit of a performance drop because Windows Home Server often has to dynamically increase the size of the paging file as you work with your programs.

  • You might think that setting the initial size and the maximum size to the same (relatively large; say, two or three times the RAM) value would improve performance because it would mean that Windows Home Server would never resize the paging file. In practice, however, it has been shown that this trick does not improve performance, and in some cases, it can actually decrease performance.

  • If you have a large amount of RAM (at least 4GB), you might think that Windows Home Server would never need virtual memory, so it would be okay to turn off the paging file. This won’t work, however, because Windows Home Server needs the paging file anyway, and some programs might crash if no virtual memory is present.

As you can see, certain circumstances could lead you to deviate from the default settings. See the section after next to learn how to change the paging file size.

Watching the Paging File Size

Monitor the paging file performance to get a feel for how it works under normal conditions, where “normal” means while running your usual collection of applications and your usual number of open windows and documents.

Start all the programs you normally use (and perhaps a few extra, for good measure), and then watch Performance Monitor’s Process\Page File Bytes and Process\Page File Bytes Peak counters.

Changing the Paging File’s Location and Size

The paging file is named pagefile.sys and it’s stored in the root folder of Drive C. Here’s how to change the hard disk that Windows Home Server uses to store the paging file, and how to adjust the paging file size:

Note

The pagefile.sys file is a hidden system file. To see it, open any folder window and select Organize, Folder and Search Options. In the Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab, activate the Show Hidden Files and Folders option, and deactivate the Hide Protected Operating System Files check box. When Windows Home Server asks you to confirm the display of protected operating system files, click Yes, and then click OK.


1.
If necessary, defragment the hard disk that you’ll be using for the page file.

2.
Select Start, right-click Computer, and then click Properties to display the System window. (You can also press Windows Logo+Pause/Break.)

3.
Click Advanced System Settings to open the System Properties dialog box with the Advanced tab displayed.

4.
In the Performance group, click Settings to display the Performance Options dialog box.

5.
Display the Advanced tab.

6.
In the Virtual Memory group, click Change. Windows Home Server displays the Virtual Memory dialog box.

7.
Deactivate the Automatically Manage Paging File Size for All Drives check box, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Use the Virtual Memory dialog box to select a different hard disk to store the paging file.


8.
Use the Drive list to select the hard drive you want to use.

Tip

If you want to move the page file to another drive, first select the original drive and then activate the No Paging File option to remove the page file from that drive. Select the other drive and choose either Custom Size or System Managed Size to add a new page file to that drive.

9.
Select the Custom Size option.

10.
Use the Initial Size (MB) text box to enter the initial size, in megabytes, that Windows Home Server should use for the paging file.

11.
Use the Maximum Size (MB) text box to enter the largest size, in megabytes, that Windows Home Server can use for the paging file.

Caution

To ensure that Windows Home Server is able to dynamically resize the paging file as needed, specify a maximum size that’s larger than the initial size.

12.
Click Set.

13.
Click OK in all the open dialog boxes. If you decreased either the initial size or the maximum size, Windows Home Server asks if you want to restart the computer.

14.
Click Yes.
Other  
  •  Winddows Home Server 2011 : Optimizing the Hard Disk
  •  Windows Home Server 2011 : Monitoring Performance (part 5) - Monitoring Performance with Performance Monitor
  •  Windows Home Server 2011 : Monitoring Performance (part 4) - Monitoring Performance with Resource Monitor
  •  Windows Home Server 2011 : Monitoring Performance (part 3) - Monitoring Performance with Task Manager - Monitoring Network Performance
  •  Windows Home Server 2011 : Monitoring Performance (part 2) - Monitoring Performance with Task Manager - Monitoring System Performance
  •  Windows Home Server 2011 : Monitoring Performance (part 1) - Monitoring Performance with Task Manager - Monitoring Processes
  •  Windows 8 : Managing User Access and Security - Managing Remote Access to Workstations (part 2)
  •  Windows 8 : Managing User Access and Security - Managing Remote Access to Workstations (part 1) - Configuring Remote Assistance
  •  Windows 8 : Managing User Access and Security - Managing Local User Accounts and Groups (part 3)
  •  Windows 8 : Managing User Access and Security - Managing Local User Accounts and Groups (part 2) - Creating Local Groups for Workstations
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