nbuf

nbuf sets the system-wide number of file-system buffer and cache buffer headers (determines maximum total number of buffers on the system). See note below.

Acceptable Values:

Minimum
0 or 16
Maximum
Memory limited
Default
0

Specify integer value of zero (see below). For more information, see Specifying Parameter Values.

Description


This parameter is for backwards compatibility and should be set to zero because dynamic buffer cache is preferred. See Configurable File-System Buffer Parameters and Overview of File-System Configurable Parameters for more information.


If set to a non-zero value, nbuf specifies the number of buffer headers to be allocated for the file system buffer-cache. Each buffer is allocated 4096 bytes of memory unless overridden by a conflicting value for bufpages.

If nbuf is set to a non-zero value that is less than 16 or greater than the maximum supported by the system, or to a value that is inconsistent with the value of bufpages, the number will be increased or decreased as appropriate, and a message printed at boot time.

Related Parameters

nbuf interacts with bufpages as follows:

bufpages controls the actual memory allocated to the buffer pool.

Additional Information