Nick Fankhauser wrote:
> Thanks for the correction- it sounds like this is one where usage
> can't be precisely controlled in a dynamic user environment & I just
> need to get a feel for what works under a load that approximates my
> production system.
>
I think the most important point here is that if you set sort_mem too
high, and you have a lot of simultaneous sorts, you can drive the server
into swapping, which obviously is a very bad thing. You want it set as
high as possible, but not so high given your usage patterns that you
wind up swapping.
Joe