Kb 2885 High Quality -

| Concept | Explanation | |---------|-------------| | | Allows a 32-bit application to map physical memory beyond 4 GB into its working set. SQL Server uses AWE only for data pages, not for executable code or stack. | | /3GB boot.ini switch | Shifts the user-mode virtual address space from 2 GB to 3 GB, leaving 1 GB for kernel. Helps SQL Server have a larger virtual address range but does not increase total physical memory usage beyond 2–3 GB without AWE. | | /PAE | Physical Address Extension – enables 36-bit addressing, allowing Windows to use >4 GB physical RAM. Required for AWE on 32-bit. | | Lock Pages in Memory | Windows privilege that, when granted to the SQL Server service account, prevents AWE-allocated memory from being paged out to disk. |

KB2885 explains how to leverage to allow SQL Server to access more than 2 GB of physical memory for its buffer pool (data cache). kb 2885

Determine if your Windows OS is 32-bit, 64-bit, or ARM-based. | Concept | Explanation | |---------|-------------| | |

Double-click the file to launch the Installation Wizard . Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the setup. Helps SQL Server have a larger virtual address