Question About Drive Partition

I'm using PartitionMagic's wizard to partition my drive for Linux, and after I get past the first step it asks if I want to screate a seperate Linux Swap Partition. What is a Linux Swap Partition and is something I need/should have?

A linux swap partition is simply a partition that holds the linux swap.

The swap is basically the same as virtual memory in Windows.

You do need it.

I haven't used patition magic before, but I usually use the partition util in the linux installation (diskdruid in redhat).

You may have to use partition magic depending on the distro you install

How much should I use for the swap partition? PartitionMagic defaults to something like 2.4 gigs. Do I need that much for it? I'm planning on installing Mandrake 8.1. Does anyone know if Mandrake has a partitioner as part of the install?

Normally you would put double the size of memory (this is from experience not from running Mandrake).

If you need more info - look to Mandrake at
http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/doc/81/en/user.html/disks.html\#AEN718

They write about the partitions needed.

Trade,
The more Swap space you allocate the more smoother your Unix session will be. Try not to decrease the size other then the size of the memory. That wil fix it.

Too much swap will result in wasted disk space.

Most systems that are properly configured, running fairly stable software should not swap all that much. I used systems with small amounts of RAM, and I still barely used any swap. Also, swap is slow... Avoid it as much as possible.

As mentioned above, a good rule of thumb for Linux swap is twice the size of your RAM - just in case.

I have 512MB of DDR RAM. Will I still need an extra gig for the partition?

Well, in this case, probably not. You should have some swap... maybe match your swap with your memory...

It is in actuality dependant on what you're doing with the machine (file server, gaming, desktop, etc...)... If it's just going to be a desktop machine, you should be fine with 512 swap... I doubt you'd even really use near that much, but it's always good to have if you need some quick virtual memory...

Anyone else have any opinions?

I think that with 256 mb of swap is enough

The swap partition is not your VM, but rather a subsystem in your VMM. The VMM manages your ram. When conditions occure that would require more ram then currently available, the least used snipits of programs are moved to swap, allowing space in ram for the program.

As a general rule, swap should be 1.5 x ram, up to ram = 1gig. At >=1 gig of ram, swap should match ram in size. But this rule of thumb is for a business environment. Generally a home user will not task their box in the same way a business box will be loaded. So matching swap size to ram, if you have >=256 meg of ram is acceptable. This swap size is just to insure that your box can handle the load if for some reason it becomes busier than normal.

Good luck. -mk

With that amount of RAM I wouldn't even bother with swap.
The worst bloat I have is JBuilder, that one requires 128Mb.

There is no rule that says that you _must_ have swap - my machine has 190Mb swap and 128Mb RAM, it will run out of swap space long before you even fill up half your memory.

But as mentioned by the others, it really depends on what you use it for, each user has requirements, two users need (sometimes more than) twice as much resources as one, ... and so on ...

Atle