max memory per query

Question

How can I configure the maximum memory that a query (select query) can use in sql server 2008?

I know there is a way to set the minimum value but how about the max value? I would like to use this because I have many processes in parallel. I know about the MAXDOP option but this is for processors.

Update:

What I am actually trying to do is run some data load continuously. This data load is in the ETL form (extract transform and load). While the data is loaded I want to run some queries ( select ). All of them are expensive queries ( containing group by ). The most important process for me is the data load. I obtained an average speed of 10000 rows/sec and when I run the queries in parallel it drops to 4000 rows/sec and even lower. I know that a little more details should be provided but this is a more complex product that I work at and I cannot detail it more. Another thing that I can guarantee is that my load speed does not drop due to lock problems because I monitored and removed them.

Answer 1

There isn't any way of setting a maximum memory at a per query level that I can think of.

If you are on Enterprise Edition you can use resource governor to set a maximum amount of memory that a particular workload group can consume which might help.