Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On 14 Oct 2009, at 21:34, Alan McKinnon wrote: On Wednesday 14 October 2009 22:21:38 Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: I remember standing in front of two Sun servers with 4gb each a couple of years ago. I was stuck in awe. So much ram. I have 3 of those monsters in my decommissioned stores that you are more than welcome to come and fetch them, you can awe them in the privacy of your own home all day :-) Bring a 1 ton truck. Those beasts are big and heavy. Very heavy. It takes four of our big lads to pick them up. If it weren't so far I would totally take you up on that. I really want some mutlirack SGIs, though. Stroller.
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Wednesday 14 October 2009 22:48:56 Neil Bothwick wrote: > On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:34:24 +0200, Alan McKinnon wrote: > > Bring a 1 ton truck. Those beasts are big and heavy. Very heavy. It > > takes four of our big lads to pick them up. > > Why not put one behind that SUV the next time he parks in the disabled > bay? ;-) I would, but there's no sane way to get it to the parking level. Not even if I put the castor wheels back on ... But it's still a fine idea :-) -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Wednesday 14 October 2009 22:40:58 Stefan G. Weichinger wrote: > Alan McKinnon schrieb: > > Bring a 1 ton truck. Those beasts are big and heavy. Very heavy. It takes > > four of our big lads to pick them up. > > It was a mixture of fascination and disappointment seeing those 2 "big" > servers and the (entry-level ... ok)-SAN with just 4U in sum ... > > times are a-changing ... ;-) I'll say :-) We upgraded our FTP server with a 12TB nas in January. At 4U, it's a pathetic looking little thing -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:34:24 +0200, Alan McKinnon wrote: > Bring a 1 ton truck. Those beasts are big and heavy. Very heavy. It > takes four of our big lads to pick them up. Why not put one behind that SUV the next time he parks in the disabled bay? ;-) -- Neil Bothwick Diarrhoea is hereditary, it runs in your genes. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Volker Armin Hemmann schrieb: >> What for? Just to get back to the initial topic of the thread ;-) > > /var/tmp/portage > /tmp > > oh: > free > total used free sharedbuffers cached > Mem: 81858368108312 77524 0 06067212 > -/+ buffers/cache:20411006144736 > Swap: 23446836 0 23446836 nice to see inspirational ;-) S
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Alan McKinnon schrieb: > Bring a 1 ton truck. Those beasts are big and heavy. Very heavy. It takes > four > of our big lads to pick them up. It was a mixture of fascination and disappointment seeing those 2 "big" servers and the (entry-level ... ok)-SAN with just 4U in sum ... times are a-changing ... ;-) S
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Mittwoch 14 Oktober 2009, Alan McKinnon wrote: > On Wednesday 14 October 2009 22:21:38 Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: > > I remember standing in front of two Sun servers with 4gb each a couple of > > years ago. > > I was stuck in awe. So much ram. > > I have 3 of those monsters in my decommissioned stores that you are more > than welcome to come and fetch them, you can awe them in the privacy of > your own home all day :-) > > Bring a 1 ton truck. Those beasts are big and heavy. Very heavy. It takes > four of our big lads to pick them up. > thank you but no thank your ;)
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Mittwoch 14 Oktober 2009, Stefan G. Weichinger wrote: > Volker Armin Hemmann schrieb: > > I remember standing in front of two Sun servers with 4gb each a couple of > > years ago. > > I was stuck in awe. So much ram. > > Yes. I remember as well. > > "Why 128 MB RAM in that workstation? Are you sure we need that much? It > costs!" > > > Today my desktop has 8gb - and I am thinking about 16 in the next 12 > > month. > > What for? Just to get back to the initial topic of the thread ;-) /var/tmp/portage /tmp oh: free total used free sharedbuffers cached Mem: 81858368108312 77524 0 06067212 -/+ buffers/cache:20411006144736 Swap: 23446836 0 23446836
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Wednesday 14 October 2009 22:21:38 Volker Armin Hemmann wrote: > I remember standing in front of two Sun servers with 4gb each a couple of > years ago. > I was stuck in awe. So much ram. I have 3 of those monsters in my decommissioned stores that you are more than welcome to come and fetch them, you can awe them in the privacy of your own home all day :-) Bring a 1 ton truck. Those beasts are big and heavy. Very heavy. It takes four of our big lads to pick them up. -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Alan McKinnon schrieb: > On Wednesday 14 October 2009 18:55:34 Stefan G. Weichinger wrote: >> At least there I know how to make use of it ... > > At least this OT thread isn't as insanely OT as the checksum one :-) uuuh, I am OT ?? ;-) Haven't checked the checksum-thread, does it use RAM ?? ;-) > My first computer was a Sinclair Mk14 - even earlier than the ZX80. You had > to > build it yourself and it had 256 bytes of memory. And a 7-segment LED > calculator display. I could play moonlander on that :-) Try that with 8gigs and 64bit ... # eix moonlander No matches found. *sigh* ;-) S
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Volker Armin Hemmann schrieb: > I remember standing in front of two Sun servers with 4gb each a couple of > years ago. > I was stuck in awe. So much ram. Yes. I remember as well. "Why 128 MB RAM in that workstation? Are you sure we need that much? It costs!" > Today my desktop has 8gb - and I am thinking about 16 in the next 12 month. What for? Just to get back to the initial topic of the thread ;-) In fact I don't even feel very adventurous with those 64 GB per server ... the hardware/board would allow 128 GB and the OS/app even more ... It somehow shifts ... back then 64/96/128/256 MEGAbytes were BIG, now we just get used to swap the unit: GIGAbytes, yeah, *yawn* ;-) Stefan
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Mittwoch 14 Oktober 2009, Stefan G. Weichinger wrote: > Dale schrieb: > > Does a Vic 20 count? It had 4K of ram. I bet KDE 4 would run fast on > > that. LOL > > > > At least it wasn't running winders. > > I remember upgrading my 8088 from 128 kB to 640 kB, it was about 50 EUR > (back then there was no EUR, sure) .. > > I feel kinda old thinking of this ;-) > > And today I got 2 new servers at a customer, 64 GB RAM each ... modern > times ... > > At least there I know how to make use of it ... > > Stefan > I remember standing in front of two Sun servers with 4gb each a couple of years ago. I was stuck in awe. So much ram. Today my desktop has 8gb - and I am thinking about 16 in the next 12 month.
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Wednesday 14 October 2009 18:55:34 Stefan G. Weichinger wrote: > Dale schrieb: > > Does a Vic 20 count? It had 4K of ram. I bet KDE 4 would run fast on > > that. LOL > > > > At least it wasn't running winders. > > I remember upgrading my 8088 from 128 kB to 640 kB, it was about 50 EUR > (back then there was no EUR, sure) .. > > I feel kinda old thinking of this ;-) > > And today I got 2 new servers at a customer, 64 GB RAM each ... modern > times ... > > At least there I know how to make use of it ... At least this OT thread isn't as insanely OT as the checksum one :-) My first computer was a Sinclair Mk14 - even earlier than the ZX80. You had to build it yourself and it had 256 bytes of memory. And a 7-segment LED calculator display. I could play moonlander on that :-) -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Dale schrieb: > Does a Vic 20 count? It had 4K of ram. I bet KDE 4 would run fast on > that. LOL > > At least it wasn't running winders. I remember upgrading my 8088 from 128 kB to 640 kB, it was about 50 EUR (back then there was no EUR, sure) .. I feel kinda old thinking of this ;-) And today I got 2 new servers at a customer, 64 GB RAM each ... modern times ... At least there I know how to make use of it ... Stefan
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
KH wrote: > pk schrieb: >> Dale wrote: >> >>> I think mine has a 3Gb limit too. I have two installed tho. It works >>> well for me. >> >> I think someone (in?)famous said: "640K is more memory than anyone will >> ever need..." ;-) >> >> Best regards >> >> Peter K >> > > Hi, > > my first Mac had 256kb. I upgraded it to 1mb because kit had one mb as > well ;-) I still have this box. Didn't use it for years. > > kh > > Does a Vic 20 count? It had 4K of ram. I bet KDE 4 would run fast on that. LOL At least it wasn't running winders. Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
pk schrieb: Dale wrote: I think mine has a 3Gb limit too. I have two installed tho. It works well for me. I think someone (in?)famous said: "640K is more memory than anyone will ever need..." ;-) Best regards Peter K Hi, my first Mac had 256kb. I upgraded it to 1mb because kit had one mb as well ;-) I still have this box. Didn't use it for years. kh
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Wednesday 14 October 2009 13:31:09 pk wrote: > Dale wrote: > > I think mine has a 3Gb limit too. I have two installed tho. It works > > well for me. > > I think someone (in?)famous said: "640K is more memory than anyone will > ever need..." ;-) Well, it wasn't Bill Gates (just in case that's what y'all were thinking) -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Dale wrote: > I think mine has a 3Gb limit too. I have two installed tho. It works > well for me. I think someone (in?)famous said: "640K is more memory than anyone will ever need..." ;-) Best regards Peter K
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
KH wrote: > Stefan G. Weichinger schrieb: > [snip] >> >> As I see I am not even able to use much RAM with several (vmware-)VMs >> running, so the 8 gigs will maybe stay some number to impress *some* >> people with (until everyone gets 8 gigs into their supermarket-PCs). >> >> Anyway. >> Stefan >> > > Hi, > > my motherboard cannot go above 3gigs so I am very impressed ;-) > > kh > > I think mine has a 3Gb limit too. I have two installed tho. It works well for me. Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
KH schrieb: > Hi, > > my motherboard cannot go above 3gigs so I am very impressed ;-) Wow, at last one ;-) S
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Stefan G. Weichinger schrieb: [snip] As I see I am not even able to use much RAM with several (vmware-)VMs running, so the 8 gigs will maybe stay some number to impress *some* people with (until everyone gets 8 gigs into their supermarket-PCs). Anyway. Stefan Hi, my motherboard cannot go above 3gigs so I am very impressed ;-) kh
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Joshua Murphy schrieb: > Yep! sys-apps/preload goes a long way to automate what I did with > busybox's readahead tool, and I'm about 99% certain they both make the > same system call to do the work anyways... it's all a matter of how & > where they get their list of *what* to fetch... I, as I said, took the > brute force approach and made my list by hand. ;-) Ok, so it seems to me that I will just stay with sys-apps/preload and avoid my own "brute force approach" ;-) I don't have any particular issues, the box is rather fast and smooth so far ... and remember my non-ricer-approach ;-) As I see I am not even able to use much RAM with several (vmware-)VMs running, so the 8 gigs will maybe stay some number to impress *some* people with (until everyone gets 8 gigs into their supermarket-PCs). Anyway. Stefan
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 1:58 PM, Stefan G. Weichinger wrote: > Joshua Murphy schrieb: > >> Non-ricer? Well... this sorta breaks that category. > > ;-) > >> There's a rather handy tool[1] already in the stage3, I've used it >> alongside bootchart to force-load everything needed into ram during >> boot, before it's needed, so execution gets held up by i/o just a >> little less. Actually shaved a few seconds off of my desktop's bootup >> once upon a time (3.0 GHz core 2 duo on 4GB of ram, which had >> excessive eyecandy while remaining fairly lightweight). The second use >> I put it through, and this one just a little more long-term useful, >> was preloading my wm, most of my home directory (primarily all the >> config files), aterm, firefox, a few other common tools I use, and the >> libraries they were using on my system while logging in. All of my >> applications were starting in no time at all. The catch... I took the >> brute force approach, rather than using an add-on tool to >> automagically choose what to prefetch for me. There are also setting >> in the bootscripts that, if you're not already using them, will make >> use of at least a little, using tmpfs here and there, and also just >> putting /tmp and /var/tmp onto tmpfs (outside of building things like >> open office, this tends to work well). Oh, and if you really do want >> to use up all that ram build openoffice in tmpfs... if it could >> use all 8GB for files only, it might actually work out, I know it >> kills off when you only have part of 4GB to feed it. >> >> [1] artifice ~ # busybox readahead >> BusyBox v1.14.2 (2009-10-13 06:37:22) multi-call binary >> >> Usage: readahead [FILE]... >> >> Preload FILE(s) in RAM cache so that subsequent reads for thosefiles >> do not block on disk I/O > > I use sys-apps/preload ... is this comparable? > > I don't need to speed up boot-times as I use suspend-to-ram on my main > workstation as well, so I don't care much about booting ... > > Thanks anyway for sharing! Stefan > > Yep! sys-apps/preload goes a long way to automate what I did with busybox's readahead tool, and I'm about 99% certain they both make the same system call to do the work anyways... it's all a matter of how & where they get their list of *what* to fetch... I, as I said, took the brute force approach and made my list by hand. ;-) -- Poison [BLX] Joshua M. Murphy
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Joshua Murphy schrieb: > Non-ricer? Well... this sorta breaks that category. ;-) > There's a rather handy tool[1] already in the stage3, I've used it > alongside bootchart to force-load everything needed into ram during > boot, before it's needed, so execution gets held up by i/o just a > little less. Actually shaved a few seconds off of my desktop's bootup > once upon a time (3.0 GHz core 2 duo on 4GB of ram, which had > excessive eyecandy while remaining fairly lightweight). The second use > I put it through, and this one just a little more long-term useful, > was preloading my wm, most of my home directory (primarily all the > config files), aterm, firefox, a few other common tools I use, and the > libraries they were using on my system while logging in. All of my > applications were starting in no time at all. The catch... I took the > brute force approach, rather than using an add-on tool to > automagically choose what to prefetch for me. There are also setting > in the bootscripts that, if you're not already using them, will make > use of at least a little, using tmpfs here and there, and also just > putting /tmp and /var/tmp onto tmpfs (outside of building things like > open office, this tends to work well). Oh, and if you really do want > to use up all that ram build openoffice in tmpfs... if it could > use all 8GB for files only, it might actually work out, I know it > kills off when you only have part of 4GB to feed it. > > [1] artifice ~ # busybox readahead > BusyBox v1.14.2 (2009-10-13 06:37:22) multi-call binary > > Usage: readahead [FILE]... > > Preload FILE(s) in RAM cache so that subsequent reads for thosefiles > do not block on disk I/O I use sys-apps/preload ... is this comparable? I don't need to speed up boot-times as I use suspend-to-ram on my main workstation as well, so I don't care much about booting ... Thanks anyway for sharing! Stefan
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 4:44 PM, Stefan G. Weichinger wrote: > > Greets, gentoo-users, > > as I ordered myself an upgrade from 4 to 8 gigs of RAM for my main > workstation, just because it's rather cheap now and I have good use for > the "old" 4 gigs I wonder what to do with those shiny new additional 4 gigs. > > OK, linux uses it for IO-caching, yep ... > > I have some ram-disk already for compiling stuff (portage-stuff) and I > can think of increasing app-caches like operas own ram-cache to make use > of the memory. > > I will give my virtual machines more RAM to improve their performance, > yes, this is maybe the main reason for me to upgrade RAM. > > But are there any other things I might forget? > > Are there any creative non-ricer ways to really make use of it? > > I would like to hear your opinion on this, I am quite sure the > gentoo-community knows one trick or the other ;-) > > Thanks a lot, Stefan > > Non-ricer? Well... this sorta breaks that category. There's a rather handy tool[1] already in the stage3, I've used it alongside bootchart to force-load everything needed into ram during boot, before it's needed, so execution gets held up by i/o just a little less. Actually shaved a few seconds off of my desktop's bootup once upon a time (3.0 GHz core 2 duo on 4GB of ram, which had excessive eyecandy while remaining fairly lightweight). The second use I put it through, and this one just a little more long-term useful, was preloading my wm, most of my home directory (primarily all the config files), aterm, firefox, a few other common tools I use, and the libraries they were using on my system while logging in. All of my applications were starting in no time at all. The catch... I took the brute force approach, rather than using an add-on tool to automagically choose what to prefetch for me. There are also setting in the bootscripts that, if you're not already using them, will make use of at least a little, using tmpfs here and there, and also just putting /tmp and /var/tmp onto tmpfs (outside of building things like open office, this tends to work well). Oh, and if you really do want to use up all that ram build openoffice in tmpfs... if it could use all 8GB for files only, it might actually work out, I know it kills off when you only have part of 4GB to feed it. [1] artifice ~ # busybox readahead BusyBox v1.14.2 (2009-10-13 06:37:22) multi-call binary Usage: readahead [FILE]... Preload FILE(s) in RAM cache so that subsequent reads for thosefiles do not block on disk I/O -- Poison [BLX] Joshua M. Murphy
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Alan McKinnon schrieb: >> you could regularly measure your disk speed by coping huge amounts of >> data to a second ram-disk, and back. Then you have a good knowledge of >> read and write speed of your hdd :-) Ah, yes, that's a serious thing to do ;-) >> I often use the ram disk for creating iso images before burning them to >> dvd/cd. This is a lot faster than doing this on an hdd. Good idea. Will try that now as I got my 8 gigs already ... > Just make sure the total amount of data is significantly larger than the > amount of RAM, to negate the effect of in-RAM caching. A CD .iso for example > can easily be cached in RAM as well as have the copy too. The write to hdd > will be almost instant the second time :-) Stefan
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Dale schrieb: KH wrote: Stefan G. Weichinger schrieb: Greets, gentoo-users, as I ordered myself an upgrade from 4 to 8 gigs of RAM for my main workstation, just because it's rather cheap now and I have good use for the "old" 4 gigs I wonder what to do with those shiny new additional 4 gigs. OK, linux uses it for IO-caching, yep ... I have some ram-disk already for compiling stuff (portage-stuff) and I can think of increasing app-caches like operas own ram-cache to make use of the memory. I will give my virtual machines more RAM to improve their performance, yes, this is maybe the main reason for me to upgrade RAM. But are there any other things I might forget? Are there any creative non-ricer ways to really make use of it? I would like to hear your opinion on this, I am quite sure the gentoo-community knows one trick or the other ;-) Thanks a lot, Stefan Hi, you could regularly measure your disk speed by coping huge amounts of data to a second ram-disk, and back. Then you have a good knowledge of read and write speed of your hdd :-) I often use the ram disk for creating iso images before burning them to dvd/cd. This is a lot faster than doing this on an hdd. kh Why not use hdparm -Tt to test the speed of the drives? It works pretty good here. Dale :-) :-) Hi, that wouldn't involve the extra ram ;-) kh
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
KH wrote: > Stefan G. Weichinger schrieb: >> Greets, gentoo-users, >> >> as I ordered myself an upgrade from 4 to 8 gigs of RAM for my main >> workstation, just because it's rather cheap now and I have good use for >> the "old" 4 gigs I wonder what to do with those shiny new additional >> 4 gigs. >> >> OK, linux uses it for IO-caching, yep ... >> >> I have some ram-disk already for compiling stuff (portage-stuff) and I >> can think of increasing app-caches like operas own ram-cache to make use >> of the memory. >> >> I will give my virtual machines more RAM to improve their performance, >> yes, this is maybe the main reason for me to upgrade RAM. >> >> But are there any other things I might forget? >> >> Are there any creative non-ricer ways to really make use of it? >> >> I would like to hear your opinion on this, I am quite sure the >> gentoo-community knows one trick or the other ;-) >> >> Thanks a lot, Stefan >> > > Hi, > > you could regularly measure your disk speed by coping huge amounts of > data to a second ram-disk, and back. Then you have a good knowledge of > read and write speed of your hdd :-) > > I often use the ram disk for creating iso images before burning them > to dvd/cd. This is a lot faster than doing this on an hdd. > > kh > > Why not use hdparm -Tt to test the speed of the drives? It works pretty good here. Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
On Tuesday 13 October 2009 00:09:23 KH wrote: > > I will give my virtual machines more RAM to improve their performance, > > yes, this is maybe the main reason for me to upgrade RAM. > > > > But are there any other things I might forget? > > > > Are there any creative non-ricer ways to really make use of it? > > > > I would like to hear your opinion on this, I am quite sure the > > gentoo-community knows one trick or the other ;-) > > > > Thanks a lot, Stefan > > > > Hi, > > you could regularly measure your disk speed by coping huge amounts of > data to a second ram-disk, and back. Then you have a good knowledge of > read and write speed of your hdd :-) > > I often use the ram disk for creating iso images before burning them to > dvd/cd. This is a lot faster than doing this on an hdd. > Just make sure the total amount of data is significantly larger than the amount of RAM, to negate the effect of in-RAM caching. A CD .iso for example can easily be cached in RAM as well as have the copy too. The write to hdd will be almost instant the second time -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
Re: [gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Stefan G. Weichinger schrieb: Greets, gentoo-users, as I ordered myself an upgrade from 4 to 8 gigs of RAM for my main workstation, just because it's rather cheap now and I have good use for the "old" 4 gigs I wonder what to do with those shiny new additional 4 gigs. OK, linux uses it for IO-caching, yep ... I have some ram-disk already for compiling stuff (portage-stuff) and I can think of increasing app-caches like operas own ram-cache to make use of the memory. I will give my virtual machines more RAM to improve their performance, yes, this is maybe the main reason for me to upgrade RAM. But are there any other things I might forget? Are there any creative non-ricer ways to really make use of it? I would like to hear your opinion on this, I am quite sure the gentoo-community knows one trick or the other ;-) Thanks a lot, Stefan Hi, you could regularly measure your disk speed by coping huge amounts of data to a second ram-disk, and back. Then you have a good knowledge of read and write speed of your hdd :-) I often use the ram disk for creating iso images before burning them to dvd/cd. This is a lot faster than doing this on an hdd. kh
[gentoo-user] how to use RAM
Greets, gentoo-users, as I ordered myself an upgrade from 4 to 8 gigs of RAM for my main workstation, just because it's rather cheap now and I have good use for the "old" 4 gigs I wonder what to do with those shiny new additional 4 gigs. OK, linux uses it for IO-caching, yep ... I have some ram-disk already for compiling stuff (portage-stuff) and I can think of increasing app-caches like operas own ram-cache to make use of the memory. I will give my virtual machines more RAM to improve their performance, yes, this is maybe the main reason for me to upgrade RAM. But are there any other things I might forget? Are there any creative non-ricer ways to really make use of it? I would like to hear your opinion on this, I am quite sure the gentoo-community knows one trick or the other ;-) Thanks a lot, Stefan
