NT/Windows 2000 Storage problems Interview Questions and Answers

FAQ: Storage problems on NT/Windows 2000 

[1] Question: How large is the address space on Windows NT or Win2000?
[2] Question: Why does my program/report terminate with a dump such as
'STORAGE_PARAMETERS_WRONG_SET', for example, although according to the dump, only 400MB HEAP was allocated and I actually have a 2GB (3GB) address space on NT or Win2000?
[3] Question: What do I use the 'SAP Address Space Viewer' tool for?
[4] Question: Are there guidelines or is there other information about the 'SAP Address Space Viewer'?
[5] Question: I have not installed a 3GB RAM on my server (Windows 2000 Advanced Server or NT Enterprise Edition).
Nevertheless, can I activate the /3GB option?

[1] Question: How large is the address space on Windows NT or Win2000?

Answer:
As is the case on all 32-bit operating systems, the address space is limited to 4GB. 2GB of this is available for a process on the Windows NT or Windows Server operating systems.

With the 'NT Enterprise Edition' or 'Windows 2000 Advanced Server' version, a 3GB address space can be made available by setting the /3GB option on a process (note 110172).

[2] Question: Why does my program/report terminate with a dump such as 'STORAGE_PARAMETERS_WRONG_SET', for example, although according to the dump, only 400MB HEAP was allocated and I actually have a 2GB (3GB) address space on NT or Win2000?

Answer:
The address space that is available for a process contains all buffers such as the program buffer, extended memory of the process, roll and page buffer, and many more.
The area that is then still free is available as a HEAP.
Approximately 300-400MB are then available as a HEAP for a default setting of the memory parameter (Zero Administration Memory Management as of 40A/NT, note 88416) for an R/3 System.
This means that approximately 800-900MB is then available on the address space for a program/report. This is composed of the existing HEAP (approximately 300/400MB) and the set size of the 'em/address_space_MB' parameter.

If this address space is used up, a termination occurs. Typical dumps here are:
'TSV_TNEW_PAGE_ALLOC_FAILED' or 'STORAGE_PARAMETERS_WRONG_SET'
You can solve the problem by:
1. changing the selection criteria in order to reduce the datasset with which the report is started. For example, a shorter period.
2. If this is not successful or if another reductin is not possible, then install Windows NT Enterprise Edition or Windows 2000 Advanced Server and activate the 3GB option.
This then makes a 3GB address space available for a process.
For more information, see also note 110172.

[3] Question: What do I use the 'SAP Address Space Viewer' tool for?

Answer:
The 'SAP Address Space Viewer' is a useful tool on Windows NT und Windows 2000 to graphically display the address space of a process and to get a better picture of the distrubition of the parameters/buffers.
You also use the tool for defragmenting the address space. A situation often arises where the address space is fragmented by dlls and this makes it impossible to increase the parameters. You may also have a case where, through fragmenting, you can no longer start the R/3 System at all if there is no more free associated address space available and, as a result, important buffers cannot be created.
For more information about this, see note 129813.

[4] Question: Are there guidelines or is there other information about the 'SAP Address Space Viewer'?

Answer:
When you have opened the "SAP Address Space Viewer", click on the symbol in the upper left corner. Then select the 'Help' menu option.

[5] Question: I have not installed a 3GB RAM on my server (Windows 2000 Advanced Server or NT Enterprise Edition). Nevertheless, can I activate the /3GB option?

Answer:
As described in note 110172, for example, activating the /3GB option has nothing to do with the physical memory (RAM) on the host. Here, it is simply a question of the virtual address space which is available for a process. This means you can activate this option completely irrespective of the existing physical memory on the system.