> Thanks for the information Claus, Why would reducing the effective cache
> size help the processor usage? It seems that there is plenty of resources
> on the box although I can see that 10MB of sort space could mount up if we
> had 500 connections but at the moment we do not have anything like that
> number.
There is a discussion at
http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2005-06/msg00477.php
which can give a clearer picture. But in general rasing values can be
counterproductive.
If you know that you won't need more than 250 connections that would
be a reasonable value. You may wan't to read
http://www.varlena.com/GeneralBits/Tidbits/annotated_conf_e.html as
well. This has some rules of thumb on the settings for 7.4.x.
--
regards
Claus
When lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom,
the gentlest gamester is the soonest winner.
Shakespeare