Understanding DataPower Memory Statistics

In support we regularly get inquired about the differences between the different memory statistics available on the DataPower Appliances. The two most common are the output from 'show load' vs. 'show memory'.

You can see these 2 outputs here:

You can see there the calculation of Used/Free = Memory Usage.

The answer is actually fairly difficult. The straight forward explanation is that the 'load' metric includes memory that is cached; which the other does not.

The 'show load' includes cached memory as well as some other values. These are internal non-configurable memory caches to help optimize the performance of the device.

To sum up, support in general recommends to observe the 'memory' metric most closely. That is the value on which the Throttler triggers and which best reflects the available capacity of the device.