[K12OSN] Client RAM question

[Terrell Prude', Jr.]

Julius Szelagiewicz wrote:

>On Fri, 26 Mar 2004, mella wrote:
>  
>
>>>From: "Terrell Prude', Jr." <microman at cmosnetworks.com>
>>>No, it shouldn't.  None of the apps are actually running on the client
>>>at all; they're all running on the server and merely are displayed on
>>>the client.  The only "large" app running on the client is the X11
>>>server itself, and that fits nicely into 32MB.  Most of my clients have
>>>      
>>>
>><32MB DRAM, and they run just as fast as if they have 48MB or 64MB.
>>    
>>
>>>Matter of fact, I've actually pulled DRAM out of a client so that it'll
>>>boot faster (less DRAM to go through during POST).
>>>      
>>>
>>Wrong answer!
>>I use k12LTSP4.0.1 , 30 clients with Dual Xeon + 4G RAM.
>>My clients use many memory-wasting programs like Mozilla, OOO and Evolution.
>>I noticed strange restarts on clients with 32MB RAM. Even with 64MB. But clients with 128MB RAM never restarted.
>>So, I added NFS swap up to 96MB per client and now all is ok. No more restarts.
>>So, amount of client RAM IS important!
>>
>>    
>>
>Mella is right - the amount of client memory matters, because the X server
>got "smart" and uses more memory to reduce network traffic. 128MB seems to
>be the magic number. julius
>
>  
>

Hey, I can only relate my experience, and that says, "no difference."

Julius, I hadn't heard about the X11 server getting "smart."  I'd of 
course like to know more.  Given that the apps are running on the 
server, not the client itself, how does this "smart" bit work?  We're 
just displaying stuff, aren't we, or are we somehow migrating apps over 
to the client under the hood, a'la OpenMosix?

Please enlighten me; you've got me curious!

--TP