Tuning the Windows Registry

DBAs managing Oracle databases on Windows NT/2000/XP servers must configure the Windows registry for their specific database requirements. Unfortunately, this topic is not covered in the Oracle installation guide or documentation. Thus unless the DBA is a Windows guru who already knows the arcane registry tuning techniques available, most if not all of these optimizations never get set. And the performance impact is huge. A typical Windows database server will run anywhere from 50 to 150% faster with just minor registry modifications. The problem is that the DBA must know exactly which Windows registry keys and values to set. TOAD simplifies this entire process via the Windows Registry Parms screen shown in Figure 6.70 and located on the main menu at DBAOS UtilitiesWindows Registry Parms.

Figure 6.70. TOAD Windows Registry Parms screen.

This screen lets you specify key registry performance- related settings both quickly and easily. You should check all four of the check boxes (two in Memory Management and two for the NTFS File System) and also select the IO Page Lock Limit that best corresponds to the size of your Windows server. The more memory your server has, the higher you can set the value. You'll have to experiment to be sure, but most servers should benefit from a value of 8K or larger. Note too that you can set both local and remote registries, assuming that you have the proper privileges on the remote Windows server. Finally, this screen can also generate a ".reg" file rather than making the changes live.