Recommended Initial Settings

I would like to get someone's recommendations on the best initial
settings for a dedicated PostgreSQL server. I do realize that there are
a lot of factors that influence how one should configure a database. I
am just looking for a good starting point. Ideally I would like the
database to reside as much as possible in memory with no disk access.
The current database size of my 7.x version of PostgreSQL generates a 6
Gig file when doing a database dump.

Dedicated PostgreSQL 8.2 Server

Redhat Linux 4.x AS 64 bit version (EM64T)

4 Intel Xeon Processors

20 Gig Memory

Current PostgreSQL database is 6 Gig file when doing a database dump

/etc/sysctl.conf file settings:

# 11 Gig

kernel.shmmax = 11811160064

kernel.sem = 250 32000 100 128

net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 1024 65000

net.core.rmem_default = 262144

net.core.rmem_max = 262144

net.core.wmem_default = 262144

net.core.wmem_max = 262144

postgresql.conf file settings (if not listed then I used the defaults):

max_connections = 300

shared_buffers = 10240MB

work_mem = 10MB

effective_cache_size = 512MB

maintenance_work_mem = 100MB

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Lance Campbell

Project Manager/Software Architect

Web Services at Public Affairs

University of Illinois

217.333.0382

http://webservices.uiuc.edu