The SAS Metadata Server is a resource–intensive application. Because the metadata server is an "in–memory" server, memory and disk space shortages can result in metadata corruption. A Windows–based metadata server should run on a server machine that is dedicated to the metadata server task. We do not recommend that you run the workspace, stored process, or batch servers (or other resource intensive processes) on the same machine. All other tasks will compete with the metadata server for resources, and this can result in random out-of-memory failures for the metadata server and poor metadata server performance.

You should closely monitor your memory and disk usage and take action when either resource is at risk of being exhausted.

To avoid insufficient disk space issues, perform these steps:

• Run the %OMABAKUP macro with the REORG=YES. This utility releases the space left by deleted content from the metadata data sets stored on disk. For more information on %OMABAKUP, refer to Chapter 7 "Using the %OMABAKUP Macro to Perform Backups and Restores" in the SAS^® 9.1.3 Intelligence Platform System Administration Guide.
• Use the CONTAINERSTATS routine to generate detailed statistics on metadata size. The CONTAINERSTATS output provides detailed statistics on the overall size of metadata along with a breakdown of how the metadata is distributed across all containers (data sets). Information on the CONTAINERSTATS routine can be found at the top of page 111 in Chapter 14 "Managing Memory for Performance" of the SAS^® 9.1.3 Intelligence Platform System Administration Guide. You must have enough space to store the existing metadata and to allow for the addition of new metadata in the future. If you do not have sufficient space, you must consider adding additional disk space to your system.

To avoid insufficient memory issues:

• Make sure the server has sufficient physical memory (RAM) installed so that virtual memory is not used for the metadata server process. This ensures that the process stays resident in physical memory and reduces the amount of paging to disk, thereby improving the performance of the server. To ensure that sufficient memory is available to the metadata server process, set the SAS system option MEMSIZE to MAX or 0 in the server start command.
• Use the Windows Task Manager to determine the virtual memory size of your metadata server process by following these steps:
1. On the Processes tab, choose Select Columns…from the View menu.
2. Select Virtual Memory Size.
3. Select the "VM Size" column to sort the processes such that the largest appear at the top of the table.
4. Locate the sas.exe process, which is usually near the top because it is often one of the largest processes, and identify whether or not it exceeds the total physical memory on the machine.
5. On the Performance tab, locate the "Commit Charge(K)" section which shows the current virtual memory usage.
6. Compare the "Total", which should be smaller than (or close to) the "Total" shown in the "Physical Memory(K)" section.
• Stop or pause the metadata server periodically (preferably daily) to help minimize memory usage. When you stop or pause the server, metadata that was previously loaded into memory is released and not reloaded until it is needed. The best way to protect your metadata, and also clear unused metadata from memory, is to execute a metadata backup on a daily basis using the %OMABAKUP routine. For information on performing this process refer to Chapter 7 "Using the %OMABAKUP Macro to Perform Backups and Restores" in the SAS^® 9.1.3 Intelligence Platform System Administration Guide.
• Be aware that the maximum amount of memory that can be consumed by a metadata server process is two gigabytes on Windows. If the amount of metadata being managed by the metadata server reaches this limit at any point, out-of-memory errors will occur and metadata corruption is possible. While some Windows platforms provide settings that allow you to increase the maximum memory usage for a single process to three gigabytes, SAS does not generally recommend using these Windows settings due to the potential for server failure if memory resources are completely exhausted.
• Use the RUNANALYSIS=YES option in conjunction with the %OMABAKUP routine to store metadata in such a way as to allow the server to more efficiently use memory. Refer to page 113 of the SAS^® 9.1.3 Intelligence Platform System Administration Guide.
• Use the example at the top of page 112 of the SAS^® 9.1.3 Intelligence Platform System Administration Guide to estimate the total amount of memory required for loading all metadata. This would approximate the maximum amount of memory the server would use if you were to access all metadata types while the server is running.




Operating System and Release Information

Product Family	Product	System	SAS Release
			Reported	Fixed*
SAS System	SAS Metadata Server	z/OS	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft® Windows® for 64-Bit Itanium-based Systems	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter 64-bit Edition	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise 64-bit Edition	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Server	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Microsoft Windows XP Professional	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		64-bit Enabled AIX	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		64-bit Enabled HP-UX	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		64-bit Enabled Solaris	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		HP-UX IPF	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Linux	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Linux on Itanium	9.1 TS1M3 SP4
		Solaris for x64	9.1 TS1M3 SP4

* For software releases that are not yet generally available, the Fixed Release is the software release in which the problem is planned to be fixed.

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The SAS Metadata Server is a resource-intensive application. Because the metadata server is an "in-memory" server, memory and disk space shortages can result. This document describes how to monitor your memory and disk usage and take action when either resource is at risk of being exhausted.

Type:	Usage Note
Priority:

Date Modified:	2008-10-15 12:12:17
Date Created:	2008-10-08 12:50:25