Thomas Jacobs ([email protected]) asked about accessing more
than 2 GB of memory in Stata under Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition:
> I am running Stata SE 10 under Windows XP and have seen more than
> once, as I understand it, in this list that physical memory in excess
> of 2GB cannot be accessed due to limitations of Windows XP. I have
> access to Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition which claims to provide
> access to up to 4GB. Before I go to the trouble of buying a machine
> with 4GB of RAM can anyone share whether this will work? Will Stata
> SE 10 be able to access more than 2GB of RAM running on Windows Server
> 2003? Thanks.
In a later post, Thomas mentioned that he had read about a switch
available in Windows Server 2003 which might make more than 2 GB
available to applications:
> ... It appeared that one can set a switch in the
> Server operating system for changing the allocation of the 4GB of
> memory from the default of 2GB for applications and 2GB for the memory
> kernel to 1GB for the kernel and 3GB for applications (/3GB). This
> would imply that one could reach 3GB for Stata. However, a relevant
> comment is this from the lengthy post section:
>
> Here's the main problem with the 3GB switch: Applications must be
> specifically compiled to look for and recognize the fact that they can
> use 3GB instead of 2GB of memory. Right now the only apps that I know
> of that have this intelligence are SQL Server and Exchange Server. So
> for "regular" desktop apps, they'll continue to use a 2GB memory
> space, and the kernel will use 1GB, and you'll have a 1GB "hole" right
> in the middle of everything!
Stata for Windows on a 32-bit system will not be able to access
more than 2 GB.
However, Thomas may not be aware that Windows Server 2003 Standard
Edition, is available in a 64-bit version for x86-64 architecture
(known as x64) and supports up to 32 GB of RAM. Thus, if Thomas buys
a new computer with 4 (or even more) GB of RAM and can obtain the
64-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, he can then
install 64-bit Stata for Windows and allocate more than 2 GB of memory
to Stata. Stata runs very well under Windows Server 2003 (either 32-bit
or 64-bit), and as an end user running desktop applications, Thomas
will not notice much difference between Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP
in terms of interface or usability.
--Alan Riley
([email protected])
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