Server Memory Requirements

Although 32 Mbytes is the absolute minimum memory requirement for servers, it is better to equip servers of medium-to-large domains with at least 64 Mbytes.

Ideally, an NIS+ server should have enough memory to hold all the entries of all the searchable columns of all the operative NIS+ tables in RAM at one time. In other words, optimal server memory is equal to the total memory requirements of all the NIS+ tables.

For illustration purposes, Table 2-3 shows memory requirements for the netgroup table with five searchable columns, and Table 2-4 shows approximate memory requirements for the passwd, host, and credtables.

Table 2-3 Server Memory Required for netgroups Table

Number of Entries	Server Memory Usage in Mbytes
6,000	4.2
60,000	39.1
120,000	78.1
180,000	117.9
240,000	156.7
300,000	199.2

Table 2-4 Approximate Memory Required for passwd Table

Number of Entries	Server Memory Usage in Mbytes
6,000	3.7
60,000	31.7
120,000	63.2
180,000	94.9
240,000	125.8
300,000	159.0
1,000,000	526.2

For the other tables, you can estimate the memory size by multiplying the estimated number of entries times the average number of bytes per entry for each searchable column. For example, suppose you have a table with 10,000 entries and two searchable columns. The average number of bytes per entry in the first column is 9, the average number of bytes per entry in the second column is 37. Your calculation is: (10,000x9)+(10,000x37)=460,000.

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Note -

When estimating the number of entries in the cred table, keep in mind that every user will have two entries (one for the user's Local credential and one for the user's DES credential). Each machine will have only one entry.

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See "NIS+ Standard Tables" for the number of searchable columns in each of the standard NIS+ tables.