SageTVService.exe memory management... grows to 1.1GBs; but doesnt shrink

[mkanet]

I'm curious if anyone can recommend a setting (or settings) that can keep sageTVservice.exe's memory size somewhat under control. It's okay for it to peak to 1.1GBs in size if cached data is used frequently; but, I prefer for it to reduce it's overal size when old cache data hasn't been accessed for extended periods of time. It's not practical to retain all cached data indefinitely (reguardless of how seldom the cached data is accessed (maxing out at the JVMMaxHeapSizeMB defined value.

When sageTVservice.exe starts up, it's around 157MB's; and, eventually grows to 1.1GBs. IIRC, there is a setting in sageTV.properties that cleans up infrequently used memory.

Hopefully, there's a setting for this..
Michael

[PLUCKYHD]

That is how it works. Once java grabs memory it holds it even though it may not be using it all. There is garbage cleanup but that won't always get it back done. I don't believe there is anything you should do about this and really shouldn't matter or effect anything.

[mkanet]

Plucky, I'm glad I got your attention. There was a post you made in the sageTV performance enhancements thread with some settings that "might" be able to help improve efficiency in memory management/caching of images for sageTV on a machine with limited RAM (32bit OS running sageTV server and client) without me having to add more RAM and upgrading to a 64bit OS. I'm not sure what kinds of things can make the sageTV server process grow nearly a gigabyte. I was presuming it's cached images in RAM. I realize those settings were mean to help improve performance; but maybe they could be used to reduce memory footprint for the server as well.

I'm hoping you would be kind enough to recommend sageTV properties setting(s), if any, that could help slightly reduce the 1GB growth in the server process. If nearly a gigabyte worth of data are being cached into RAM; maybe there's a way to simply reduce the size of the cache pool (amount of data that can be cached by sageTV server at one time before having to load from disk again).

Thanks,
Michael

[doncote0]

Identifying RAM Usage in Windows 7
To find out what your current RAM usage is, go to Start, right-click Computer and select Properties. On the System screen under the section labelled System: you will see your Installed memory (RAM): value listed.

Windows 7 users with a 32-bit system with the full 4GB installed will possibly notice that in brackets a value is displayed, such as (3.25GB usable). If this is the case, then the 4GB is being fully utilised – but a portion of it is reserved. This might be for your video memory, for instance, depending on the type of graphics card you have installed.

A 32-bit Windows 7 user might be able to squeeze some extra RAM out of their system by updating the way RAM is allocated in the system BIOS; meanwhile 64-bit users will be able to alter the way RAM is allocated and reserved by using MSCONFIG (see below), depending on their Windows 7 version. 64-bit Windows 7 Home Basic allows up to 8GB of RAM, whereas Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit version will allow users to go up to 192GB.

From http://www.brighthub.com/computing/w...#ixzz1KnSy6h3w

Another that might be open to you is ReadyBoost. This uses the fast ram available via flash drive for the system to use as it sees fit. You need at least 1GB free on the flash drive for this to work. (Yes, that means it will work even if that flash drive is also used for storage.) Readyboost currently works for Windows 7 and Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit versions).

Essentially, it appears that Microsoft has used this for a type of RAM drive available to most OS's. If you are running Vista and have SSD's, Readyboost has been disabled, but in Windows 7 it is still available.

Microsoft recommends a fast flash drive with at least 1 to 3 times the system memory for ready boost to be efficient. (Some web pages say at least double). Up to 8 Readyboost devices can be used up to a total of 256GB of extra "memory" to speed up your PC.

In order for this to be maximized, large flashdrives will have to be formated to 64bit instead of the standard 32bit memory size that only allows up to 4GB.

NOTE: This is memory allocation size and has little to do with the type of OS (32 or 64 bit).

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...res/readyboost

[doncote0]

Need a fast flash drive that is also at a low cost?

How about the Patriot Xporter XT Boost 16GB Flash Drive (Model PEF16GUSB)?
It passes the XBox configuration test for maximum performance. It is currently $25.99 with a $10 rebate at newegg. Nice...

Look here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220253

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by mkanet

Plucky, I'm glad I got your attention. There was a post you made in the sageTV performance enhancements thread with some settings that "might" be able to help improve efficiency in memory management/caching of images for sageTV on a machine with limited RAM (32bit OS running sageTV server and client) without me having to add more RAM and upgrading to a 64bit OS. I'm not sure what kinds of things can make the sageTV server process grow nearly a gigabyte. I was presuming it's cached images in RAM. I realize those settings were mean to help improve performance; but maybe they could be used to reduce memory footprint for the server as well.

I'm hoping you would be kind enough to recommend sageTV properties setting(s), if any, that could help slightly reduce the 1GB growth in the server process. If nearly a gigabyte worth of data are being cached into RAM; maybe there's a way to simply reduce the size of the cache pool (amount of data that can be cached by sageTV server at one time before having to load from disk again).

Thanks,
Michael

So let me see if understand you have high dollar SSD but don't run 64 bit windows....I am guessing hoping the only reason for that is FireWire.

As for your question there are two factors here your heap setting justifies the limit or wall for that to grow and stay. The properties I mentioned can also be lowered as you stated to adjust how much fanart and such can grow it. I would not Recommend going below the min sagetv setting.

[mkanet]

You're close, one of the reasons is 64bit R5000 driver stability (which uses USB2). I am lucky to have everything working surprisingly great under Vista 32 (on a 4.5 year old Vista32 PC). I even have the luxury of using this same PC as my primary fulltime workstation. I haven't heard of many success stories using 64 bit R5000 drivers; although, some people swear that R5000 64bit drivers work great. Also, my machine is responsible for MUCH, MUCH more than just sageTV; which would take longer time than I have (and willing to put into) installing and configure every single piece of software installed/carefully configured in the last 4 years that that runs in the background; and, several apps that I use regularly when using the PC as a workstation. To give you an idea how stable/tightly configured the PC is right now, I can have over 8 HD cable TV shows recorded at the same time in the background while serving custom ASP.NET webpages (under IIS 7) to several people, WHILE using the same PC as a workstation for watching TV, bluray under sageTV, powerDVD, etc, browse web, email, chat, burn/author bluray discs, compose music, etc without a glitch; without the need to reboot the PC for several days/weeks at a time.

The only reason I bought the SSD is buy me more time until I'm ready to buy a whole new PC with the latest specs; and, demote the current 32bit PC (limiting the services on it). The SSD made a tremendous difference in performance; probably much more than someone with tons of RAM. At the time I bought my SSD, it was over $700 for a 256GB disk (minimum space I needed for boot partition, apps, and swap/temp files) ...which gives you the idea how much I DONT WANT to switch OS's and add more RAM to the current PC.

I plan to run the course of my end-of-life R5000 cablebox devices (which I think my PC will outlast); then, start from scratch; designing the best next-gen solution I can afford; which may include getting a beefy server-class PC running VMWare (or some other VM software) or multiple PCs. Most people with this many apps/backend network daemons/workstation needs prefer to spread them into multiple PCs; as, its much harder to get every single thing to work together without issues or rebooting.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not running out of physical memory on my current PC; but coming VERY close; and, can pretty quickly run out of physical memory if I'm not careful. I've even had to disable unused Vista services (that was getting loaded into by default memory) in order to have a more light-weight OS.

Having said that, I do have at least a little bit of headroom luckily for java heap size; which I can reduce. Thanks for the tip.

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

So let me see if understand you have high dollar SSD but don't run 64 bit windows....I am guessing hoping the only reason for that is FireWire.

As for your question there are two factors here your heap setting justifies the limit or wall for that to grow and stay. The properties I mentioned can also be lowered as you stated to adjust how much fanart and such can grow it. I would not Recommend going below the min sagetv setting.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by mkanet

...sageTV on a machine with limited RAM (32bit OS running sageTV server and client) without me having to add more RAM and upgrading to a 64bit OS.

It is funny how we now consider 32 bit OSes to have limited RAM - my first PC was a VIC-20 with a whopping 3.5kB. Thirty years later we now have a million times that much memory and it ain't enough!

[mkanet]

Yeah, every generation of personal computer I've bought I've bought in the past; Ive maxed out the RAM capacity; which has always worked out great for me in the long run. Even with my my Apple II+, I saved up to buy the extra 16kb expansion card. Part of the reason for not buying a new PC just yet is because I'm saving up for a "future" Intel PC with an Intel 8core CPU and at least 24GB of RAM in order to have the choice of using multiple virtual machines; if necessary. I really dont like the idea of adding multiple PCs; mainly because I dont have the space for it. My current 32bit 4GB Vista OS is dipping into virtual memory relatively frequently (which I dont notice because of my SSD... basically a high performance flash drive); which definitely works better for me than using Readyboost + a cheap external Flash drive.

Originally Posted by wayner

It is funny how we now consider 32 bit OSes to have limited RAM - my first PC was a VIC-20 with a whopping 3.5kB. Thirty years later we now have a million times that much memory and it ain't enough!

[doncote0]

which definitely works better for me than using Readyboost + a cheap external Flash drive.

Yeah, I just notice you are running Vista. You get the option of SSD or Readyboost, but not both on Vista (Windows 7 can use both).

As for the future upgrade, for now the Intel quad core CPU with the most bang for the buck is the i7-2600K (Sandy Bridge).

As for the 8 core processor, currently 1 is readily available-- Intel Xeon X7560, but that goes for around $4000. Given that pricepoint I would rather get 8 cores from (2) Sandy Bridge PC's and save, or just go down to 6 cores and save even more (about $3500 in savings).

[mkanet]

I'm actually pretty happy with my nearly-5 year old Intel quadcore CPU. It can handle anything I've thrown at it that I use; including realtime transcoding of placeshifter with all settings maxed out (realtime DVD quality over the Internet). I have my eyes on 8 cores for the future to take the place of what I have now (when realtime HD quality transcoding becomes common).

I dont really see the point of using both readyboost+USB flash drive and a SATA based SSD; as both are flash drives (SATA SSD is basically a VERY, very fast flash drive). In my case, I much more prefer to write to/read from a SATA-based high performance flash drive (SSD) when dipping into virtual memory or using it for prefetch caching; as opposed to using "readyboost" which write/reads to much slower storage for caching data. The only time I would see the need to use SSD + readyboost is on a machine that doesnt have enough free space on the SSD; which isn't my case. Anyway, thanks for the info.

-Michael

Originally Posted by doncote0

Yeah, I just notice you are running Vista. You get the option of SSD or Readyboost, but not both on Vista (Windows 7 can use both).

As for the future upgrade, for now the Intel quad core CPU with the most bang for the buck is the i7-2600K (Sandy Bridge).