[dba-SQLServer] SQL Server "locks up"

jwcolby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Tue Jun 9 13:26:11 CDT 2009


All of them are in the same raid card. The OS is on a raid 1 pair.  The page file is on the C: drive.

The database is all on a single raid 6, even the same volume.  That is what the questions I was 
asking were aimed at but I didn't really get much response on how to spread things around so I just 
did what I know.

I have a set of 6 terabyte drives, which taken together gives me two 2 tbyte volumes, raid 6.  I 
find it difficult to imagine that the disk stuff would cause the server to lock up tight when... I 
am running a query (yes it is large) and I click on another database to just look at the views 
contained in that database, or open a stored procedure to see what it looks like.

It just seems like that should be instantaneous.  I have told SQL Server to leave 3 gigs of ram 
available (only take 5 of the 8 gigs).  It appears that SQL Server does indeed respect that because 
the size of the committed memory is only 5 gigs, and increases if I go in and increase that number 
while the query is running.

So in theory I have 3 gigs available for the OS and other apps.  The processors are idling.  And yet 
it does not matter what I do, from look at parts of the databases to trying to open Excel or Access, 
it just takes 60 seconds or more to respond.

I have no idea how to troubleshoot this, but the one constant is that I do not have this issue 
unless SQL Server is busy.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com


Francisco Tapia wrote:
> Are these large queries?  What's your disk distribution setup like?
> Where is the OS disk what channel on your raid card, Where is your Page File
> on what channel / Raid Card, where is your DB, what chan... well you get the
> picture...
> 
> If it's all processing via the same raid card I'm afraid you may have to
> troubleshoot that part.  There is absolutely no reason your server should
> hang while running a view, unless there are problems with the view, or the
> design on your I/O layout.
> 
> 
> -Francisco
> http://sqlthis.blogspot.com | Tsql and More...
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 4:56 AM, jwcolby <jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com> wrote:
> 
>> Why does SQL Server "lock up" when I am running a query and I try to do
>> something such as view the
>> design of a view on a completely different view?
>>
>> BTW SQL Server has been limited to 5 gigs out of 8 gigs total memory.
>>
>> It seems that SQL Server should be able to do things like this with
>> absolutely no hesitation.  Yet
>> when I am running a large query and I try to do anything else, such as view
>> the tables or views,
>> view the SQL in a stored procedure etc., even in a completely different
>> database, the entire system
>> just locks up for a long time, as in a minute.  The odd part is that the
>> query isn't even using much
>> cpu.  I have a quad core and the total cpu usage in task manager says 0%,
>> yet I can't get anything
>> else to work.  Even something like saving a change to an Access module and
>> closing Access takes a
>> full minute.
>>
>> It is truly annoying.  I often have to do other things on the machine while
>> queries run and it is
>> just impossible to get anything else done.
>>
>> --
>> John W. Colby
>> www.ColbyConsulting.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> dba-SQLServer mailing list
>> dba-SQLServer at databaseadvisors.com
>> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-sqlserver
>> http://www.databaseadvisors.com
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> dba-SQLServer mailing list
> dba-SQLServer at databaseadvisors.com
> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-sqlserver
> http://www.databaseadvisors.com
> 
> 



More information about the dba-SQLServer mailing list