SQL Configuration : Pros & Cons - sql-server

Question

I am in the midst of evaluating default SQL Server 2008 R2 configuration settings.
I have been asked to run the below script on the production server:
sp_configure 'remote query timeout', 0
sp_configure 'max server memory (MB)', 28000
sp_configure 'remote login timeout', 300
go
reconfigure with override
go
Before proceeding on this, I have been trying to gauge the advantages and disadvantages of each line of SQL code.
Edited on 17-May-2016 14:19 IST:
Few Microsoft links that I have referred are as below:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms178067.aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-IN/library/ms175136.aspx
Edited on 23-May-2016 11:15 IST:
I have set the 'MAX SERVER MEMORY' based on feedback here and further investigation from my end. I have provided my inferences to the customer.
I have also provided my inferences on the other 2 queries based on views and answers provided here.
Thanks to all for your help. I will update this question after inputs from the customer.

Answer 1

Following Query will set the query timeout to 0 , i.e No timeout
sp_configure 'remote query timeout', 0
This value has no effect on queries received by the Database Engine.
To disable the time-out, set the value to 0. A query will wait until
it is canceled.
sp_configure 'max server memory (MB)', 28000
amount of memory (in megabytes) that is managed by the SQL Server
Memory Manager for a SQL Server process used by an instance of SQL
Server.
sp_configure 'remote login timeout', 300
If you have applications that connect remotely to server ,we can set timeout using the above query.
Note :
You can also set the server properties via SSMS (management studio) where you can set the maximum and minimum values rather using the codes as shown in your post.
You can very well try these queries ,but settings that you would like to opt in would depend on hardware and application type you are working on.

Answer 2

I would generally say that these statements are quite idiotic. Yes, seriously.
Line by line:
sp_configure 'remote query timeout', 0
Makes queries run unlimited time before aborting. While I accept there are long running queries, those should be rare (the default timeout of IIRC 30 seconds handles 99.99% of the queries) and the application programmer can set an appropriate timeout in the rare cases he needs it for this particular query.
sp_configure 'max server memory (MB)', 28000
Sets max server memory to 28gb. Well, that is nonsense - the DBA should have set that upon install to a sensible value, so it is not needed unless the dba is incompetent. Whether the roughly 28gb make sense I can not comment.
sp_configure 'remote login timeout', 300
Timeout for remote login 300 seconds. Default of 30 seconds already is plenty. I have serious problems considering a scenario where the server is healthy and does not process logins within less than a handful of seconds.
The only scenario I have seen where this whole batch would make sense is a server dying from overload - which is MOST OFTEN based on some brutal incompetence somewhere. Either the admin (64gb RAM machine configured to only use 2gb for SQL Server for example) or most often the programmers (no indices, ridiculous bad SQL making the server die from overload). Been there, seen that way too often.
Otherwise the timeouts really make little sense.

Answer 3

"Remote query timeout" sets how much time before a remote query times out.
"Remote login timeout" set how much time before a login attempt time out.
The values set here could make sense in certain conditions (slow, high-latency network, for example).
"Max server memory" is different. It's a very useful setting, and it should be set almost always to avoid possible performance problems. What value, it depends how much memory is on the server as whole and which other applications/service are running on it. If it's a dedicated server with 32 GB of memory, this value sounds about right.
None of these could be really tested on the test environment, I'm afraid, unless you have an 1:1 replica of the prod environment.