[rhelv6-beta-list] My first experiences with RHEL6 beta

[Bryan J. Smith]

On Tue, 6/15/10, Jonathan Billings <jsbillin at umich.edu> wrote:
> The performance of a swap file vs. a swap partition is
> similar, I admit I was unaware of that.  However, the performance
> of the linux memory manager IS improved by having available swap.

It is similar if the swap file can be as contiguous as the swap
slice (partition).  If the swap file is not contiguous, let alone
heavily fragmented, then it can be an issue, just as it is on Windows.

Even DeviceMapper could not help address that physical difference.  ;)

> When I spoke of memory being expensive compared to disk I
> was speaking of how resources are limited on a system hosting
> one or more virtual machines ... 

Theoretical meta-discussions are entertaining, but ultimately help
few people with real systems.  Real systems really differ.  ;)