Why is my On-Premises Contrast Distributed Database Server using over 99% of its swap space?

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Question

Why do I receive warnings that my On-Premises Contrast Distributed Database Server is using over 99% of its swap space?

Answer

A database server should never** use swap.  Using swap always means that either:

  1. The OS and/or database is configured improperly, or
  2. The server is too small.

If a database starts to use swap, it is usually the beginning of a death spiral that ends in a server crash.

** Some operating systems insist on setting up some amount of swap "just in case", regardless of the fact that it will never be used.

To disable swap space on Linux:

In the config file /etc/sysctl.conf, either edit the existing line or add the line:

vm.swappiness=1

Then reboot the server.

Execute cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness again to verify that the change took effect (value of 1).
 

 

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