You're better off with a swap partition. Or several of them. Swap files are the domain of legacy OSes, and even there, I'd advise a partition holding nothing except the swap file.
Double the ram is an OK rule of thumb, but it's more art than hard and fast rule. Tidal's server has been up for well past 100 days now, and swap usage is less than 1 meg. That's because they have a ton of RAM. They'd be fine with 512, but they have well past a Gig. I'm building a very similar system now with almost 3 Gigs of RAM. And I'd bet money that I don't even need swap for that system. It'll be there 'just in case', but it'll only be about 512Megs. I think after that it's just a waste of disk space, unless you're doing something that you KNOW will need the space. And frankly, I'd suggest adding RAM in that case anyway. With RAM at something like $1000 a Gig (USD for ECC) I'd say that when in doubt, add RAM. Even if it doesn't solve the problem, it's just a good thing because you'll cache more, which will make the server more responsive. Remember to configure your kernel correctly if you have a whack of RAM. Just a thought, you might want to put in a second disk, and split up your heavier used partitions across more than one disk. If the system is thrashing, then just put /swap on the second disk (which should ideally be on a different controller as well). That'll be the easiest fix. I still say, move to a 2.4 kernel. Start there. In my opinion, that was the point where Linux moved from a hobby to an enterprise ready kernel. And as lots of people have indicated, it had an ugly start with serious Virtual Memory issues. To which I say ADD RAM. There is no reason to use swap. I can understand having one available, but I don't understand why you'd actually plan to use it on a newish server. There are better places to cut costs. Geez, I turned all ranty and grumpy there... I knew starching my underwear was a bad idea... Kev. ----- Original Message ----- From: "J. Rafael S�nchez" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 9:25 AM Subject: Re: (clug-talk) Programmer(s)/User(s) crashing my system. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Aaron J. Seigo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 11:39 PM > Subject: Re: (clug-talk) Programmer(s)/User(s) crashing my system. > > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > Hash: SHA1 > > > > On Wednesday 13 November 2002 02:09, J. Rafael S�nchez wrote: > > > > I have a server that has gone past 20 CPU loads, and it hasn't crashed > > > > (RH7.2) I don't think being busy is a problem. It never has been for > > > > me, at least... > > > > > > Wow! That's good to know - I've seen cpu loads of 5 overhere and I've > been > > > a bit concerned. Thanks. > > > > it's the concept of "graceful degradation", e.g. no matter how much > pressure > > you put on the system it should simply slow down more and more but never > > actually stop. > > > > the VM has been the achiles heel for linux in reaching this goal, but > handling > > processes never really has been much of a problem. > > > > > By the way, my assumption has always been to put the swap partitions > where > > > they're best needed (/usr, /home) is this a good assumption? > > > > do you mean swap partitions or swap files? because the concept of "where" > the > > swap is kept really only matters if they are files. if they are > partitions, > > then relation to mounted filesystems has nothing to do (or at least very > > little) with where those filesystems are mounted... > > You know, I didn't know there was a difference between swap part(s) and swap > files. Whenever I do an installation, I create (single os-linux only): > /dev/hda1 ==>> /, > /dev/hda2 ==>> extended, > /dev/hda5 ==>> /tmp, > /dev/hda6 ==>> /usr > /dev/hda7 ==>> /swap (the size allocated to this one, to me, has depended on > the amount of physical mem. I usually double it - I also determine whether > to make one or more partition -) > /dev/hda8 ==>> /home > /dev/hda9 ==>> /usr/local (this one depends on the purpose of the system) > /dev/hda10 ==>> /var > > I create /swap "partition(s)". I'd like to know what is a swap file and its > purpose. Does the system create swap file as it needs them based on swap > partitions? Are they temporary files? What's their relationship in regards > to the performance of a system? > > > Thanks Aaron. > Rafael. > > > > but you basically want your swap partitions wherever they will be fast to > > access with little contention, e.g. on their own controller and disk if > > possible .... > > > > - -- > > Aaron J. Seigo > > GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43 > > > > "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler" > > - Albert Einstein > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > > Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux) > > > > iD8DBQE900UI1rcusafx20MRAthsAJoCWuyUS6fwg9KVcDDbOdgGszQKjACfTz4n > > uygGR+durG8FB6Mh05PCEZM= > > =Vi2S > > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > >
