SSAS model loading ends in memory failure

[jacccodezwart]

Hi,

I have one SSAS tabular model running on two servers.

On one server (call that server 1) the model loads using full-load without an error.

On the other server (call this server 2) the SAME model fails on full-load with memory failure. This server (server 2) has way much more memory configured at server level and sql-server level then the server 1.

The data is loaded from the same database tables, so the source of the models on both servers is the same.

All ssas parameters are the same, the versions are the same.

Software version on both servers :

SSAS version 15.0.35.51

SQL Server version 15.0.4440.1

Why does the loading fail on server 2 and not on server 1 ?

Help is wanted

[v-echaithra]

Hi @jacccodezwart ,

We’d like to follow up regarding the recent concern. Kindly confirm whether the issue has been resolved, or if further assistance is still required. We are available to support you and are committed to helping you reach a resolution.

Best Regards,
Chaithra E.

[v-echaithra]

Hi @jacccodezwart ,

Thank you @BeaBF  for your inputs.

I hope the information provided is helpful. I wanted to check whether you were able to resolve the issue with the provided solutions. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thank you.

[BeaBF]

@jacccodezwart Hi!

It could be a memory limit at SSAS instance level

• SSAS Tabular doesn’t just use “all available memory.”

• Check VertiPaqPagingPolicy and Memory* properties in msmdsrv.ini (typically in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS15.<instance>\OLAP\Config\).

  • LowMemoryLimit, TotalMemoryLimit, HardMemoryLimit are percentages of physical memory, not fixed GB values.

  • If Server 2 has more memory but these are misconfigured (too restrictive), SSAS may self-throttle and fail.

Compare msmdsrv.ini between the servers. Don’t assume the setup wizard chose the same defaults.

BBF

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[jacccodezwart]

@BeaBF Did the check this morning, but there is no difference between the two systems.

[BeaBF · Accepted solution]

@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

• Large memory servers often have multiple NUMA nodes, and the VertiPaq engine needs large contiguous memory blocks.

• 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.

• Start the SSAS service.

• Open Task Manager → Details tab.

• Find msmdsrv.exe, right-click → Set affinity.

• Choose CPUs belonging to only one NUMA node (e.g., CPUs 0-7 if your first node has 8 cores).

• Re-run processing.

BBF

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👍 Kudos are appreciated

🔥 Proud to be a Super User!

[jacccodezwart]

@BeaBF I have looked at the mentioned parameters and settings. The are the same on the test server and production server.

BUT . . .  I found out that MS-SQL Server was consuming almost all the memory when running. So when SSAS starts loading data, there was little memory left to process the data model in the tabular model.

So when lowering the assigned memory amount to SQL Server, memory came available on the server for SSAS to proces the model.

[jacccodezwart]

Thanks for your suggestion. I will check.