max_dump_file_size - what value to use?

By default, max_dump_file_size is set to unlimited. I'd like to restrict it and am looking for a reasonable value. Oracle support says that there is no recomended value and to ask other users what they're using. So here I am.

Background: we had a process spin out of control and write a trace file that eventually grew to 17 Gig (thats Gig, not Meg) when it ran out of disc space. I'd like to keep that from happening again.

This seems like a fairly straightforward question to answer - take a reasonable max file size and divide by the db_block_size to arrive at cap for a trace file. If we ever encounter a trace file larger than that, we'll lose trace after it grows that largh - I think I can live with that. Any other downsides for making it too small?

Oracle 9.2 on Win23k. ~17 Gig of space for "logs" (on a separate drive from the dbf files & the server software). In three years, we've never cleared out the bdump cdump or udump directories because there was plenty of space.

//Walt Received on Wed Oct 25 2006 - 09:04:54 CDT