Enabling HugePage for PostgreSQL

Use node_hugepage_count and node_hugepage_ratio or /pg/bin/pg-tune-hugepage

If you plan to enable HugePages, consider using node_hugepage_count and node_hugepage_ratio, and apply with ./node.yml -t node_tune.

HugePages have pros and cons for databases. The advantage is that memory is managed exclusively, eliminating concerns about being reallocated and reducing database OOM risk. The disadvantage is that it may negatively impact performance in certain scenarios.

Before PostgreSQL starts, you need to allocate enough huge pages. The wasted portion can be reclaimed using the pg-tune-hugepage script, but this script is only available for PostgreSQL 15+.

If your PostgreSQL is already running, you can enable huge pages using the following method (PG15+ only):

sync; echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches   # Flush disk, release system cache (be prepared for database perf impact)
sudo /pg/bin/pg-tune-hugepage             # Write nr_hugepages to /etc/sysctl.d/hugepage.conf
pg restart <cls>                          # Restart postgres to use hugepage