Which Firebird setting should I tweak first to cut RAM usage on a low‑traffic workload?

Goal

Lower operating costs by reducing Firebird’s memory footprint while keeping acceptable response times for a light‑traffic application.

Constraints & Uncertainty

The workload is rarely concurrent, but occasional bursts of activity must still be handled quickly. Aggressively shrinking the in‑memory cache can increase disk I/O, potentially negating CPU savings. Switching to the embedded engine removes the server process but also eliminates multi‑user support.

Unresolved Decision

Which configuration option should be addressed first to achieve the best balance between memory usage and performance?

Specific Questions

• What is the minimum safe BufferPoolSize for a single‑user application?
• Does enabling embedded mode provide a measurable CPU reduction that outweighs its concurrency limits?
• Should the COMPACT command be scheduled automatically, or is manual intervention sufficient for cost control?