Monitoring the Size of the Paging Files
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 with SP1
The counters in Table 6.17 are useful in examining paging file usage. Paging files store pages of memory used by a process that are not contained in other files. Paging files are shared by all processes, and the lack of space in paging files can prevent processes from allocating memory.
Table 6.17 Counters for Monitoring Page Files
| Object\Counter | Value |
|---|---|
Process\Page File Bytes |
The current amount of virtual memory, in bytes, that this process has reserved for use in the paging files. |
Process\Page File Bytes Peak |
The maximum amount of virtual memory, in bytes, that this process has reserved for use in the paging files. |
Paging File\% Usage |
The percentage of the Page File instance that is in use. |
Paging File\% Usage Peak |
The peak usage of the Page File instance, expressed as a percentage of total file size. |
Windows Server 2003 creates a paging file (with the file name Page File) on the system drive. You can create a paging file on each logical disk. By striping a paging file across separate physical drives, you can improve paging file performance by using drives that do not contain your sites content or log files.
You can change the sizes of existing paging files. The larger the paging file, the more memory the system commits to it. Be sure that the paging file on the system drive is at least twice the size of the physical memory, so that the system can write the entire contents of RAM to disk if the system unexpectedly locks up or shuts down.