On our server with 32 GB RAM we have an instance of SQL Server running that is capped with max Memory at 80%.
Everything works fine when the memory utilization is low. See screenshot below
But as time passes, 3-4 days hence SQL will utilize the full RAM (80% of total).
During this 3-4 days we make no changes to the server, but day by day it keeps eating more RAM.
When it reaches the Max Limit the entire performance goes for a toss, and we face query timeouts on our website. It takes many seconds to execute the same query that was executing within milliseconds.
At this point we have no choice but the restart the entire server and things return to normal. (Restarting the service only does not work)
This will work for a week or so, after which we have to restart it again
I have read online, that SQL server does not release memory. But they have also mentioned that it is how SQL functions, but does not affect performance. In my case it does and performance suffers.
Is there a memory leak? Or a stored proc consuming lots of memory and never releasing it? If so how do I debug it?