Re: postgres config - Mailing list pgsql-novice

Hi Shreya,

I too am a novice, and have done a bit of forum surfing, below is some interesting information regarding configuration.

Sincerely,

Kasia

1.) shared_buffers I see lot of reference to making

this the size of available ram (for the DB).  However,

I also read to make it the size of pgdata directory.

You generally want shared_buffers to be no more than 10% of available

ram. Postgres expects the OS to do it's own caching. 

2.) effective_cache_size - from what I read this is

the 'total' allowed memory for postgresql to use

correct? So, if I am willing to allow 1GB of memory

should I make this 1GB?

This is the effective amount of caching between the actual postgres

buffers, and the OS buffers. If you are dedicating this machine to

postgres, I would set it to something like 3.5G. If it is a mixed

machine, then you have to think about it.

This does not change how postgres uses RAM, it changes how postgres

estimates whether an Index scan will be cheaper than a Sequential scan,

based on the likelihood that the data you want will already be cached in Ram.

3.) max_connections, been trying to figure 'how' to

determine this #.  I've read this is buffer_size+500k

per a connection. ie.  128mb(buffer) + 500kb = 128.5mb per connection?

Max connections is just how many concurrent connections you want to

allow. If you can get away with lower, do so.  Mostly this is to prevent connections * work_mem to get bigger than your real working memory and causing you to swap.

I was curious about 'sort_mem' I can't find reference

of it in the 8.0.3 documentation, has it been removed?

sort_mem changed to work_mem in 8.0, same thing with vacuum_mem ->

maintenance_work_mem.

work_mem and max_stack_depth set to 4096

maintenance_work_mem set to 64mb

Depends how much space you want to give per connection. 4M is pretty

small for a machine with 4G of RAM, but if your DB is only 85M it might

be plenty. work_mem is how much memory a sort/hash/etc will use before it spills to disk. So look at your queries. If you tend to sort most of your 85M db in a single query, you might want to make it a little bit more. But if all of your queries are very selective, 4M could be plenty.

I would make maintenance_work_mem more like 512M. It is only used for

CREATE INDEX, VACUUM, etc. Things that are not generally done by more

than one process at a time. And it's nice for them to have plenty of

room to run fast.

Hi,

I am new to postgresql and trying to figure out postgres.config file. There are few variables that I need an understanding about.

shared_buffers,
temp_buffers,
work_mem
maintenance_work_mem

Can anyone please explain when and how these are used? I am trying to understand the importance of these 4 while creating an index on a table. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Shreya

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