How to Increase System Page Table Entries in Windows 2000

 

On large scale-up mailbox servers that have the /3GB switch set, the Store.exe process has more virtual address space in user mode and the kernel address space is reduced to 1 GB. Unfortunately, this issue can cause an imbalance if a heavily-loaded server can run out of page table entries (PTEs). If the issue continues, your server can experience resource failures when writing data to the disk or network connection failures.

Before You Begin

Before you perform the procedure in this topic, be aware of the following:

• This procedure is only required when running Exchange Server 2003 on a Windows 2000 family operating system. This procedure is not required when you use Exchange Server 2003 on Windows Server 2003 with the /USERVA=3030 option set.

• This topic contains information about editing the registry.

  Warning

  Incorrectly editing the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Problems resulting from editing the registry incorrectly may not be able to be resolved. Before editing the registry, back up any valuable data.

Procedure

To increase system page table entries in Windows 2000

1. Open a registry editor, such as Regedit.exe or Regedt32.exe.

2. Navigate to: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management.

3. In the right-hand pane, double-click SystemPages.

4. In the Value data field, type a value between 24000 and 31000 (decimal), and then click OK. If you are unsure what value to use, we recommend using 31000 (decimal).

5. Click OK to save the change, and then close the Registry Editor.

6. Reboot the Exchange server for the change to take effect.

For More Information

• For more information about what to do if your server is running out of page table entries, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 313707, "XADM: An Exchange 2000 Server with the '/3GB' Switch in the Boot.ini File May Lose Network Connectivity Under a Heavy Messaging Load" (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=3052&kbid=313707).

• For information about how to edit the registry, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 256986, "Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry," (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=256986).