High pagefile utilization alerts

[TimoT]

Hi,

ArcGIS Monitor has alerted me to high pagefile utilization, fluctuating between 85-90%. The pagefile is allocated on a 150GB ephemeral drive solely for the pagefile.

Currently, the pagefile is using approximately 4.5 - 5GB and is configured as System Managed. The machine has 32GB RAM. System Managed pagefiles should be able to expand up to one eighth of the volume size, which should total around 18.75GB.

Is this a bug with the metric, or could anyone provide insights into why I'm receiving these alerts?

Thank you

[AndrewSakowicz]

@TimoT . Thanks for reaching out.  At this point, I don't think this is a bug with ArcGIS Monitor, but more likely the actual vm memory spikes in your environment or how the System Managed allocates extra pages.    For example, see the following known issues

 https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/tool-reference/appendices/windows-page-file-management.htm

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/performance/slow-page-file-growth-memo...

We can verify if it by reviewing the following information for a specific time. 

• ArcGIS Monitor PageFile Utilized (%) metric screenshot
• System Information

• Taks Manager

• Powershell (that's what ArcGIS Monitor uses)

Get-CimInstance -class Win32_OperatingSystem | Select-Object Caption, LastBootUpTime, CurrentTimeZone, TotalVisibleMemorySize, TotalVirtualMemorySize

Get-CimInstance Win32_PageFileUsage| Select-Object CurrentUsage

• Logs

If this is arcgis server or portal machine, check logs for vm errors.  Also, anything in the event viewer? 

[TimoT]

Thanks @AndrewSakowicz.

This is a Notebook Server machine. Memory usage on this VM looks to be very stable with under 50% system commit charge.

System Information shows Total Virtual Memory as expected (Available Physical Memory + Page file space). Page file space was 4.9GB, available virtual memory was 17.9GB (shouldn't this mean 27% page file utilization instead of 85% being reported in Monitor?). No memory errors found in logs or event viewer. The powershell commands report numbers in bytes that look close to what is reported in System Information.

I've since restarted this VM and the alert has gone away (it had been active for a few days). A couple of differences I'm seeing post-restart:

• System Information Page File space still showing ~4.75GB, but available virtual memory is 23.6GB. The disk volume pre-restart and post-restart both report 145/149GB free space 
• The below powershell command shows Current Usage at 0

Get-CimInstance Win32_PageFileUsage| Select-Object CurrentUsage

I'll continue to keep an eye on the machine and ArcGIS Monitor.

Thank you

[AndrewSakowicz · Accepted solution]

Note, page file utilization is in reference to page file, not total virtual memory and is calculated as: 

Get-CimInstance Win32_PageFileUsage| Select-Object CurrentUsage / Page File size *100

So based on your original statement, "Currently, the pagefile is using approximately 4.5 - 5GB" and "System Information Page File space still showing ~4.75GB" 4.5/4.75*100=94%