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Date:      Fri, 9 Nov 2012 14:37:46 +0100
From:      Achim Patzner <ap@bnc.net>
To:        David <turbolad995@yahoo.co.uk>
Cc:        freebsd-performance@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Compressed RAM disk swap space
Message-ID:  <C9896033-7D0B-47AB-9202-E29378A0D64D@bnc.net>
In-Reply-To: <509CF81F.7090803@yahoo.co.uk>
References:  <509CF81F.7090803@yahoo.co.uk>

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Am 09.11.2012 um 13:33 schrieb David <turbolad995@yahoo.co.uk>:
> Hi, I have tried something which actually boosts performance

It doesn't; it just moves the load from one limited resource (RAM) to =
another one (CPU cycles), adding its own overhead on the way. It just =
means that your machine got too large an engine for your tires. Save on =
CPU power and get more RAM next time.

> : a compressed RAM disk used as swap space.

It nearly sounds as good as "hey, we've got virtual memory, let's =
generate an incredibly large RAM disk". To me it sounds like investing =
into sovereign debt of your home country and paying your interest rate =
with your own increased taxes. Why swap into RAM if your process could =
use it as well?

About the cost of compression: This idea was already annoying decades =
ago (doesn't anyone remember those "RAM extenders" for MS-DOS that gave =
you "more RAM than your computer contains"?) when software suddenly got =
inexplicably slow (until you found the driver chewing on its own tail by =
trying to decompress itself) and was one of the reasons I moved to SCO =
and BSD/386.


Achim




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