Summary

In this chapter you have seen the advantages of running SQL Server in 64-bit mode. There are only a few advantages, including virtual and physical memory increases. However, these advantages are significant. Whether you can take advantage of the features of 64-bit or not really depends on your configuration and your database size.

If your database is fairly small (less than 10 GB) and you are not experiencing any performance problems due to I/O and memory issues, then 32-bit SQL Server might be right for you. However, if you have a large database and you are doing extensive I/O, you will probably benefit from more memory and increased efficiency.

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