asked on
Server 2008 64 Bit Enterprise Memory usage - Locked Memory
We have a 2008 64 Enterprise Server with the following roles: Application , Web & File server
It sits on VMware infrastruture.
Out of the 8GB of memory 75% was always in use even though very little was running on the server.
Using SysInternal RamMap we saw that all the 6GB was actually reservered as "Driver Locked".
Troubleshooting we doubled the memory to 16GB and straight away RamMap reported "Driver Locked" to be 12.8 GB
This may have been like this for a period of time. OS is fully patched (SP2) + up until KB981349
Application / System event logs so no information
We have :
Checked all applications installed are 64 Bit
removed Antivirus clients
removed VMware clients
all to no effect.
There are no custom written appliations - all are Microsoft standard. This particular server has Dynamics installed but doesnt appear to be relevant
Attached are screenshots of Task Manager and RamMap.
While we investigate has anyone else see this or got a better approach to troubleshoot.
Many Thanks
![RamMap Showing Driver Locked Memory space]()
TaskManager-12GB.jpg
It sits on VMware infrastruture.
Out of the 8GB of memory 75% was always in use even though very little was running on the server.
Using SysInternal RamMap we saw that all the 6GB was actually reservered as "Driver Locked".
Troubleshooting we doubled the memory to 16GB and straight away RamMap reported "Driver Locked" to be 12.8 GB
This may have been like this for a period of time. OS is fully patched (SP2) + up until KB981349
Application / System event logs so no information
We have :
Checked all applications installed are 64 Bit
removed Antivirus clients
removed VMware clients
all to no effect.
There are no custom written appliations - all are Microsoft standard. This particular server has Dynamics installed but doesnt appear to be relevant
Attached are screenshots of Task Manager and RamMap.
While we investigate has anyone else see this or got a better approach to troubleshoot.
Many Thanks
TaskManager-12GB.jpg
Windows Server 2008
Last Comment
crcsupport
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
THIS SOLUTION ONLY AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS.
View this solution by signing up for a free trial.
Members can start a 7-Day free trial and enjoy unlimited access to the platform.
Hello I am currently experiencing identical problems but with a different application stack, can I clarify if you managed to reach a resolution point with VMware tools, either by patches or removal?
Ok the answer to this problem is down to the VMware ESX balloon driver, grabbing resources from the virtual machine when the ESX server is memory stressed.
I wouldn't recommend removing the vmware tools. There are really two fixes for this:
1. set RAM resources to unlimited.
2. Move the vm to a host that is not overutilized for RAM.
Removing software to resolve a configuration issue is like fishing with dynamite. If you have already configured RAM as unlimited in the VM configuration then I'm betting you have a memory alert on the host the VM is running on. Removing the software wont fix that, only moving the VM to a host that is not overutilizing RAM is your solution. If you are overallocated across the board you will need to add another host to your cluster.
1. set RAM resources to unlimited.
2. Move the vm to a host that is not overutilized for RAM.
Removing software to resolve a configuration issue is like fishing with dynamite. If you have already configured RAM as unlimited in the VM configuration then I'm betting you have a memory alert on the host the VM is running on. Removing the software wont fix that, only moving the VM to a host that is not overutilizing RAM is your solution. If you are overallocated across the board you will need to add another host to your cluster.
I was having this problem and figured.
My host is hyper-v and was running windows 2008 R2, fully updated.
Dyniamically managed memory setting in hyper-v caused this problem. I read dynamically managed memory will work most of time, but in my case, it freezes system when I do copying big files and installing. So, I disabled it, now server hyper-v guest responds much faster. I think VMware does have the same setting as well. After 1 hour of struggle, solution was simple.
My host is hyper-v and was running windows 2008 R2, fully updated.
Dyniamically managed memory setting in hyper-v caused this problem. I read dynamically managed memory will work most of time, but in my case, it freezes system when I do copying big files and installing. So, I disabled it, now server hyper-v guest responds much faster. I think VMware does have the same setting as well. After 1 hour of struggle, solution was simple.
Having said that, what is your VMware ESX / ESXi version ? (v4.0 or v3.5)
Is VMware Tools installed within the Virtual Machine ?