Обсуждение: which work memory parameter is used for what?

Hello,

I am confused on which are the parameters for different queries. I am trying to run VACUUM on a big table, and it is easier for me to set the work memory for the specific session instead of tuning it in postgresql.conf.

I noticed that if I do:

set work_mem='1GB';

it doesn't help VACUUM, I have to do:

set maintenance_work_mem='1GB';

to accelerate the operation. I could notice that by running VACUUM VERBOSE and see that the table was scanned less times an the operation finished a lot faster.

My question is, for which operations does work_mem matter and for which ones does maintenance_work_mem do? I am specially interested in operations like ANALYZE and VACUUM, I believe ANALYZE depends on work_mem and VACUUM on maintenance_work_mem.

Can you confirm my understanding?

Thanks

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-h