NUMBIGBUF Parameter Information for LM 2.1 and 2.2 (98425)

SUMMARY

The "LAN Manager 2.1 Administrator's Reference" states that NUMBIGBUF should be set to 1 if a server is only a file server with HPFS386. It also states that the entry is an MS-DOS-only parameter.

This is incorrect. NUMBIGBUF in LAN Manager 2.1 and later is used for print job spooling, IPC, FAT volume reads/writes, remote APIs, and UAS replication.

In LAN Manager 2.0, NUMBIGBUF was a low-water mark: the server could allocate more if it needed it to the point that there was no memory left in the system for other applications. In LAN Manager 2.1 and 2.2, it is a high-water mark. If you set it to 1, that's all you get. It is a lot safer to go with 10-15 big buffers for servers participating in any of the activities mentioned above. The range is 1-255 buffers; the default is 0. On backup domain controllers, it must not be set to 1.

The parameter works for MS-DOS and OS/2.