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On 2009-01-23, Stroller <stroller@××××××××××××××××××.uk> wrote: |
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> |
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> On 23 Jan 2009, at 05:16, Grant Edwards wrote: |
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>> ... I found a very slick solution that lets Windows XP use |
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>> a Linux swap partition for swap/paging/vm/whatever-MS-calls-it: |
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>> |
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>> http://db.bme.hu/~surprof/SwapFs-i/ |
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> |
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> That looks a really cool & useful idea. |
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> |
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> However, I have a reservation. Since you NEED to use it - |
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> perhaps for space considerations? |
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Yup. Mainly because I use ntfsclone to keep a bunch of backup |
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copies of the NTFS partition, and having a 2GB swap file in |
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every backup copy starts to eat up a lot of disk space. |
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|
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> - the go for it, by all means. But if this driver is slower at |
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> reads or writes than Windows' own NTFS driver then it may |
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> actually slow the computer down. |
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|
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Could be. My understanding is that the system is still using |
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the Windows NTFS driver. I believe that swapfs is a |
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block-device filter driver that sits between the NTFS driver |
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and the bottom layer block device driver (the IDE driver or the |
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SATA driver or the SCSI driver). |
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|
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> In the case of a driver written by an individual, who is |
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> likely not as familiar with Windows' APIs, or who may not be |
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> able to use the private APIs used by Windows' own filesystem |
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> drivers, I find it quite possible the performance may be |
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> questioned. |
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|
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Well, there are several individuals who've worked on it. That |
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said, I can't swear that there aren't performance implications. |
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There probably are, since it adds a layer between the SATA |
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driver (in my case) and the NTFS driver. But, I haven't |
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noticed any visible slow-down, and the machine is more than |
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fast enough for my purposes. |
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|
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Besides, if you're running MS Windows, you've already lost the |
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war when it comes to swapping performance: anybody who cares |
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about swap performance wouldn't be using a normal file on a |
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normal filesystem for it... |
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|
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Someday when I'm bored, maybe I'll google for a file I/O |
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benchmark for windows and run it with and without the swapfs |
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layer. |
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|
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-- |
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Grant Edwards grante Yow! INSIDE, I have the |
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at same personality disorder |
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visi.com as LUCY RICARDO!! |
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