title: There is insufficient system memory in resource pool 'internal'
body: <p>SQL Server 2008 Linked Server and ad-hoc INSERTs cause a rapid memory leak which eventually causes the server to become non-responsive and ends with the following error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Msg 701, Level 17, State 123, Server BRECK-PC\SQLEXPRESS, Line 2
  There is insufficient system memory in resource pool 'internal' to run this 
  query.
  
  Location:        qxcntxt.cpp:1052
  Expression:      cref == 0
  SPID:            51
  Process ID:      1880
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The server remains non-responsive until SQL Server is restarted.</p>
  
  <p>Software in use:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit build 6001 SP1</p></li>
  <li><p>Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (SP1) - 10.0.2734.0 (X64)   Sep 11 2009 14:30:58   Copyright (c) 1988-2008 Microsoft Corporation  Express Edition with Advanced Services (64-bit) on Windows NT 6.0  (Build 6001: Service Pack 1) </p></li>
  <li><p>SAOLEDB.11 driver from SQL Anywhere 11.0.1.2276</p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Setting max server memory (MB) to 2048 did not help.</p>
  
  <p>Adding various -g values (e.g., -g256;) to the server Startup Parameters did not help.</p>
  
  <p>Using DBCC FREESYSTEMCACHE ( 'ALL' ), DBCC FREESESSIONCACHE and DBCC FREEPROCCACHE did not help.</p>
  
  <p>Installing the Cumnulative update package 4 to SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 did not help, even though it contained a fix to a memory leak symptom involving Linked Server usage.</p>
  
  <p>Separating the SELECT ... ROW_NUMBER() OVER ... query from the INSERT did not help. Experimentation showed that the complex SELECT did not cause the memory leak, the INSERT did.</p>
  
  <p>Changing the code to use the ad-hoc "INSERT INTO OPENROWSET" syntax instead of a linked server did not help; the code below shows the linked server usage.</p>
  
  <p>The sysinternals.com Process Explore utility shows that the memory usage was associated with sqlserver.exe, not the DLLs used by the SQL Anywhere OLEDB driver SAOLEDB.11.</p>
  
  <p>Note that the SQL Anywhere version of linked server (proxy tables) works OK, to "pull" 1.9 million rows from a SQL Server 2008 table to a SQL Anywhere 11 database in a single transaction. The logic shown here is an attempt to use the linked server feature to "push" the rows; same direction, different syntax.</p>
  
  <p>The code follows; 4G of RAM is exhausted after three or four executions of the EXECUTE copy_mss_t2:</p>
  
  <pre><code>EXEC sys.sp_configure 
     N'show advanced options',  
     N'1'
  GO
  
  RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
  GO
  
  EXEC sys.sp_configure
     N'max server memory (MB)',
     N'2048'
  GO
  
  RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
  GO
  
  EXEC sys.sp_configure
     N'show advanced options',
     N'0'
  GO
  
  RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
  GO
  EXEC master.dbo.sp_MSset_oledb_prop
     N'SAOLEDB.11',
     N'AllowInProcess',
     1
  GO
  
  sp_addlinkedserver
     @server = 'mem',
     @srvproduct = 'SQL Anywhere OLE DB Provider',
     @provider = 'SAOLEDB.11',
     @datasrc = 'mem_PAVILION2'
  GO
  
  EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption
     @server=N'mem',
     @optname=N'rpc',
     @optvalue=N'true'
  GO
  
  EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption
     @server=N'mem',
     @optname=N'rpc out',
     @optvalue=N'true'
  GO
  
  sp_addlinkedsrvlogin
     @rmtsrvname = 'mem',
     @useself = 'false',
     @locallogin = NULL,
     @rmtuser = 'dba',
     @rmtpassword = 'sql'
  GO
  
  CREATE PROCEDURE copy_mss_t2
     @from_row            BIGINT,
     @to_row              BIGINT,
     @rows_copied_count   BIGINT OUTPUT
  AS
  
     SELECT *
       INTO #t
       FROM ( SELECT *,
                     ROW_NUMBER()
                        OVER ( ORDER BY sample_set_number,
                                        connection_number )
                     AS t2_row_number
               FROM mss_t2 ) AS ordered_mss_t2
      WHERE ordered_mss_t2.t2_row_number BETWEEN @from_row AND @to_row;
  
     SELECT @rows_copied_count = COUNT(*)
       FROM #t;
  
  INSERT INTO mem..dba.sa_t2
  SELECT sampling_id,
         sample_set_number,
         connection_number,
         blocker_owner_table_name,
         blocker_lock_type,
         blocker_owner_name,
         blocker_table_name,
         blocker_reason,
         blocker_row_identifier,
         current_engine_version,
         page_size,
         ApproximateCPUTime,
         BlockedOn,
         BytesReceived,
         BytesSent,
         CacheHits,
         CacheRead,
     "Commit",
     DiskRead,
     DiskWrite,
     FullCompare,
     IndAdd,
     IndLookup,
     Isolation_level,
     LastReqTime,
     LastStatement,
     LockCount,
     LockName,
     LockTableOID,
     LoginTime,
     LogWrite,
     Name,
     NodeAddress,
     Prepares,
     PrepStmt,
     QueryLowMemoryStrategy,
     QueryOptimized,
     QueryReused,
     ReqCountActive,
     ReqCountBlockContention,
     ReqCountBlockIO,
     ReqCountBlockLock,
     ReqCountUnscheduled,
     ReqStatus,
     ReqTimeActive,
     ReqTimeBlockContention,
     ReqTimeBlockIO,
     ReqTimeBlockLock,
     ReqTimeUnscheduled,
     ReqType,
     RequestsReceived,
     Rlbk,
     RollbackLogPages,
     TempFilePages,
     TransactionStartTime,
     UncommitOp,
     Userid,
     previous_ApproximateCPUTime,
     interval_ApproximateCPUTime,
     previous_Commit,
     interval_Commit,
     previous_Rlbk,
     interval_Rlbk
    FROM #t;
  
  GO
  
  DECLARE @rows_copied_count BIGINT
  EXECUTE copy_mss_t2 1110001, 1120000, @rows_copied_count OUTPUT
  SELECT @rows_copied_count
  GO
  
  EXECUTE create_linked_server
  GO
  
  DECLARE @rows_copied_count BIGINT
  EXECUTE copy_mss_t2 1120001, 1130000, @rows_copied_count OUTPUT
  SELECT @rows_copied_count
  GO
  
  EXECUTE create_linked_server
  GO
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Here is the SQL Server source table, containing about 1G of data in 1.9 million rows:</p>
  
  <pre><code>CREATE TABLE mss_t2 (
     sampling_id                       BIGINT NOT NULL,
     sample_set_number                 BIGINT NOT NULL,
     connection_number                 BIGINT NOT NULL,
     blocker_owner_table_name          VARCHAR ( 257 ) NULL,
     blocker_lock_type                 VARCHAR ( 32 ) NULL,
     blocker_owner_name                VARCHAR ( 128 ) NULL,
     blocker_table_name                VARCHAR ( 128 ) NULL,
     blocker_reason                    TEXT NULL,
     blocker_row_identifier            VARCHAR ( 32 ) NULL,
     current_engine_version            TEXT NOT NULL,
     page_size                         INTEGER NOT NULL,
     ApproximateCPUTime                DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     BlockedOn                         BIGINT NULL,
     BytesReceived                     BIGINT NULL,
     BytesSent                         BIGINT NULL,
     CacheHits                         BIGINT NULL,
     CacheRead                         BIGINT NULL,
     "Commit"                          BIGINT NULL,
     DiskRead                          BIGINT NULL,
     DiskWrite                         BIGINT NULL,
     FullCompare                       BIGINT NULL,
     IndAdd                            BIGINT NULL,
     IndLookup                         BIGINT NULL,
     Isolation_level                   BIGINT NULL,
     LastReqTime                       TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '1900-01-01',
     LastStatement                     TEXT NULL,
     LockCount                         BIGINT NULL,
     LockName                          BIGINT NULL,
     LockTableOID                      BIGINT NULL,
     LoginTime                         TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '1900-01-01',
     LogWrite                          BIGINT NULL,
     Name                              VARCHAR ( 128 ) NULL,
     NodeAddress                       TEXT NULL,
     Prepares                          BIGINT NULL,
     PrepStmt                          BIGINT NULL,
     QueryLowMemoryStrategy            BIGINT NULL,
     QueryOptimized                    BIGINT NULL,
     QueryReused                       BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountActive                    BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountBlockContention           BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountBlockIO                   BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountBlockLock                 BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountUnscheduled               BIGINT NULL,
     ReqStatus                         TEXT NULL,
     ReqTimeActive                     DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqTimeBlockContention            DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqTimeBlockIO                    DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqTimeBlockLock                  DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqTimeUnscheduled                DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqType                           TEXT NULL,
     RequestsReceived                  BIGINT NULL,
     Rlbk                              BIGINT NULL,
     RollbackLogPages                  BIGINT NULL,
     TempFilePages                     BIGINT NULL,
     TransactionStartTime              TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '1900-01-01',
     UncommitOp                        BIGINT NULL,
     Userid                            VARCHAR ( 128 ) NULL,
     previous_ApproximateCPUTime       DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0.0,
     interval_ApproximateCPUTime       AS ( COALESCE ( "ApproximateCPUTime", 0 ) - previous_ApproximateCPUTime ),
     previous_Commit                   BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
     interval_Commit                   AS  ( COALESCE ( "Commit", 0 ) - previous_Commit ),
     previous_Rlbk                     BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
     interval_Rlbk                     AS  ( COALESCE ( Rlbk, 0 ) - previous_Rlbk ) )
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Here is the target table in SQL Anywhere 11:</p>
  
  <pre><code>CREATE TABLE sa_t2 (
     sampling_id                       BIGINT NOT NULL,
     sample_set_number                 BIGINT NOT NULL,
     connection_number                 BIGINT NOT NULL,
     blocker_owner_table_name          VARCHAR ( 257 ) NULL,
     blocker_lock_type                 VARCHAR ( 32 ) NULL,
     blocker_owner_name                VARCHAR ( 128 ) NULL,
     blocker_table_name                VARCHAR ( 128 ) NULL,
     blocker_reason                    TEXT NULL,
     blocker_row_identifier            VARCHAR ( 32 ) NULL,
     current_engine_version            TEXT NOT NULL,
     page_size                         INTEGER NOT NULL,
     ApproximateCPUTime                DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     BlockedOn                         BIGINT NULL,
     BytesReceived                     BIGINT NULL,
     BytesSent                         BIGINT NULL,
     CacheHits                         BIGINT NULL,
     CacheRead                         BIGINT NULL,
     "Commit"                          BIGINT NULL,
     DiskRead                          BIGINT NULL,
     DiskWrite                         BIGINT NULL,
     FullCompare                       BIGINT NULL,
     IndAdd                            BIGINT NULL,
     IndLookup                         BIGINT NULL,
     Isolation_level                   BIGINT NULL,
     LastReqTime                       TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '1900-01-01',
     LastStatement                     TEXT NULL,
     LockCount                         BIGINT NULL,
     LockName                          BIGINT NULL,
     LockTableOID                      BIGINT NULL,
     LoginTime                         TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '1900-01-01',
     LogWrite                          BIGINT NULL,
     Name                              VARCHAR ( 128 ) NULL,
     NodeAddress                       TEXT NULL,
     Prepares                          BIGINT NULL,
     PrepStmt                          BIGINT NULL,
     QueryLowMemoryStrategy            BIGINT NULL,
     QueryOptimized                    BIGINT NULL,
     QueryReused                       BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountActive                    BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountBlockContention           BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountBlockIO                   BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountBlockLock                 BIGINT NULL,
     ReqCountUnscheduled               BIGINT NULL,
     ReqStatus                         TEXT NULL,
     ReqTimeActive                     DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqTimeBlockContention            DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqTimeBlockIO                    DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqTimeBlockLock                  DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqTimeUnscheduled                DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NULL,
     ReqType                           TEXT NULL,
     RequestsReceived                  BIGINT NULL,
     Rlbk                              BIGINT NULL,
     RollbackLogPages                  BIGINT NULL,
     TempFilePages                     BIGINT NULL,
     TransactionStartTime              TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '1900-01-01',
     UncommitOp                        BIGINT NULL,
     Userid                            VARCHAR ( 128 ) NULL,
     previous_ApproximateCPUTime       DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0.0,
     interval_ApproximateCPUTime       DECIMAL ( 30, 6 ) NOT NULL COMPUTE ( COALESCE ( "ApproximateCPUTime", 0 ) - previous_ApproximateCPUTime ),
     previous_Commit                   BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
     interval_Commit                   BIGINT NOT NULL COMPUTE ( COALESCE ( "Commit", 0 ) - previous_Commit ),
     previous_Rlbk                     BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
     interval_Rlbk                     BIGINT NOT NULL COMPUTE ( COALESCE ( Rlbk, 0 ) - previous_Rlbk ),
     PRIMARY KEY ( sample_set_number, connection_number ) );
  </code></pre>