Summary: Do I need a swap file?

From: Bob Hendley (R.J.Hendley@computer-science.birmingham.ac.uk)
Date: Mon Jun 21 1993 - 15:49:59 CDT


Here is a summary of replies that I received:

. 1 person said "Yes, I have done it"

. 2 People said "Yes, but I haven't done it"

. Many people said "No, not under 4.1.3, but you can under solaris 2.x". In 2.x
  VM = memory + swap rather than VM = swap in 4.1.3

. Someone said "Why bother? - If you can afford the RAM, you can afford a bit of idle
  disk" - good point!

. Several people asked for a summary.

So, officially you cannot do this; However, at least under some circumstances you can
get away with it.

Many thanks to all who replied - If I've missed your name below then my apologies.

Bob

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My original question

> Is it possible to set things up so that we can avoid having a swap
> file?

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wwf@doe.carleton.ca (W. Walter Fergusson) said:

I am currently running SunOS4.1.1 on a Sun3/260 without a swap
partition. It has been only working for a few days, but I seem to
have no problems. I am not aware of any differences that would stop
you from using the same method I am using.

If you want details, please contact me. I will then try to get a
"package" together that documents the process.

Walter

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ia@st-andrews.ac.uk (Ian Angles)
Charles <mcgrew@edu.rutgers.cs>

Both pointed to:

>config vmunix root on nfs swap on ns0
>
>... then
> pseudo-device ns

This is, I think, what XKernel 2.0 does.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to:

Marty Leisner <leisner@eso.mc.xerox.com>
ia@st-andrews.ac.uk (Ian Angles)
"mwp.michael" <MWP.MICHAEL@MELPN1.CV.COM>
Casper Dik <casper@fwi.uva.nl>
dzambon@afit.af.mil (Dan A. Zambon)
Dan Lorenzini <dal@gcm.com>
Christian Lawrence <cal@soac.bellcore.com>
'Fletcher Williams' <spaceman@mwunix.mitre.org>
Chip Christian <chip@allegra.att.com>
chris@invmms.worldbank.org (Chris Bulle)
jamest@sybase.com (James Terry)
Charles <mcgrew@edu.rutgers.cs>
wwf@doe.carleton.ca (W. Walter Fergusson)
lscpdx!jayl@nosun.West.Sun.COM (Jay Lessert)
Mike Raffety <miker@com.swissbank.us.il>
kevin@uniq.com.au (Kevin Sheehan {Consulting Poster Child})
stern@sunne.East.Sun.COM (Hal Stern - NE Area Systems Engineer)



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