FIX: Client Disconnects Can Cause SQL Server Instability When Using More Than Two Gigabytes of Memory

When a client disconnects from SQL Server, the connection can persist. The sp_who stored procedure can show the offending process as having a status of SPINLOOP. In this state, the process is impossible to KILL and can continue to hold locks indefinitely. In addition, the process can cause an access violation (AV). Another symptom is that SQL Server can stop responding (hang).

This problem is caused due to a hashing algorithm SQL Server uses to manage memory. When SQL server is configured to use memory above 2 GB, this can hash to a value greater than was accounted for. This caused an internal overflow and so the process was not cleaned up properly.

To work around this problem, make sure that SQL Server is configured to only use 2 gigabytes or less of memory.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server version 6.5. This problem has been corrected in the Post Service Pack 5a Update for Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5. To install the Post Service Pack 5a Update, you must have either SQL Server 6.5 SP5 or SP5a installed.

For information about how to download and install the SQL Server 6.5 Service Pack 5a, refer to the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If you already have SQL Server 6.5 SP5 or SP5a installed, you can download the Post SP5a Update from the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information, contact your primary support provider.