RAM Disks in Linux???

[Mike]

Swap space is supposed to be for when you run out of memory (RAM) and you
need more memory. Why not just set your newly added memory to be part of
your OS so that it is available to all of your programs, and then when you
exhaust real memory (RAM) your can go into SWAP space....

Are you having problems with the aparent 64Mb limit being autodetected by
Linux?

If you knowexactly how much memory you have and none if this memory is
shared with your video card (like seom modern machines do) then you can
just as an entry to yout /etc/lilo.conf like:
append="mem=128M"

so that you TELL your kernel how much memory you have.

What you state can be done, but the reasons seem  ??

If you REALLY want to be cruel to your CPU you could:
enable lookpack support, 
3DES fs encryption,
RAM Disk support, and 
then create a ramdisk, use dd to write out some block sized fileonto the
ramdisk. Setup the file on the loopback interface with encryption. Mount
the loopback interface as swap and really consume CPU cycles! (Joke)

What purpose are you trying to solve by enabling RAM to be a SWAP via
RAMDisk?

It is possible tha there are reasons for this that I have not thought
about, and I am willing to hear them...

-M


 On Thu, 8 Jul 1999, David Cole wrote:

> Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 18:44:18 -0700
> From: David Cole <metalgrow at cds1.net>
> Reply-To: nblug-talk at lists.sonic.net
> To: nblug-talk at lists.sonic.net, dustin at sonic.net, vulpia at sonic.net
> Cc: MetalGrow at cds1.net
> Subject: RAM Disks in Linux???
> 
> Help!!!
>   I can use any sugestions, I can't find anything about this online

> 
> With PC100 memory prices as low as $30 for 64Mb,  
> I want to try a RAM Linux SWAP Drive,  
> instead of Hard Drive system Linux SWAP Partition.
> 
> Does anyone even have a guess at how I would do it.
> I have Red Hat 5.2, Pentium II 400 with 128Mb of PC100SD Ram.
> I would like to use about 64Mb for general RAM 
> and 64Mb Ram System SWAP Drive???
> This would be for my CGI web server Linux box.
> 
> I know it’s killing a knat with an elephant gun,  
> but it sounds hard enough to be fun.
> 
> More stable system:  Long term, Ram doesn’t corrupt bits 
> like Hard Drives can :)
> And oooboy it’d be fast :)  
> the performance difference between RAM and any HD is huge.
> You can run a 486DX2 out of ram faster than you can run a 
> PII out of a SCSI Hard Drive.
> Hard Drives are in milliseconds and RAM is in nanoseconds.
> 
> Thanks 
>    David Cole
> email: MetalGrow at cds1.net
>