Forum Discussion
SSAS model loading ends in memory failure
jacccodezwart ok, If the msmdsrv.ini memory settings are identical, then we can probably rule out a simple misconfiguration. That means the issue on Server 2 is more likely tied to the environment rather than the model itself.
Here are the next things I’d look into:
NUMA & Hardware Layout
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Large memory servers often have multiple NUMA nodes, and the VertiPaq engine needs large contiguous memory blocks.
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On a machine with “too much” memory, allocations can fragment across NUMA nodes and fail even though plenty of memory is technically available.
Try starting SSAS with processor affinity limited to a single NUMA node.
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Start the SSAS service.
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Open Task Manager → Details tab.
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Find msmdsrv.exe, right-click → Set affinity.
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Choose CPUs belonging to only one NUMA node (e.g., CPUs 0-7 if your first node has 8 cores).
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Re-run processing.
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jacccodezwart Hi!
It could be a memory limit at SSAS instance level
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SSAS Tabular doesn’t just use “all available memory.”
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Check VertiPaqPagingPolicy and Memory* properties in msmdsrv.ini (typically in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS15.<instance>\OLAP\Config\).
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LowMemoryLimit, TotalMemoryLimit, HardMemoryLimit are percentages of physical memory, not fixed GB values.
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If Server 2 has more memory but these are misconfigured (too restrictive), SSAS may self-throttle and fail.
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Compare msmdsrv.ini between the servers. Don’t assume the setup wizard chose the same defaults.
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Thanks for your suggestion. I will check.