Why is server configuration 'min server memory' configured at 0, but running at 16 (sometimes 8)?
Why is server configuration 'min server memory' configured at 0, but running at 16 (sometimes 8)? The instances use the default value. 0 is the default and we don't change it, but apparently something changes it when SQL Server starts


When you leave 'Min Server Memory' to default value of 0 this does not means that Lowest possible value is 0. The lowest possible value would be 16 MB. This is documented in This Blog.msdn 

For SQL Server 2008 R2

Sp_configureOption   DefaultSetting     LowesPpossibleValue     HighestPossiblevalue

Min server memory          0                 16                Less Than Max server memory


For SQL Server 2012 

Sp_configureOption   DefaultSetting     LowesPpossibleValue     HighestPossiblevalue

Min server memory          0                 16                Less Than Max server memory