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Q: Linux swap limits ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Linux swap limits
Category: Computers > Operating Systems
Asked by: kodak-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 18 Nov 2002 07:09 PST
Expires: 18 Dec 2002 07:09 PST
Question ID: 109872
I have been trying to figure out the version of Redhat or Mandrake
that would allow me to have the maximum swap space, along with the
maximum single swap partition size limit.

I am currently using Redhat 7.2, which allows me a single swap
partition size limit of 2Gb, and I am using 6 such 2Gb partitions.
However, my applications do not seem to use all the available memory.
This would not be a problem, except that they sometimes crash  due to
a lack of memory!

I used to use Mandrake 8.0 earlier, and I used to have a single 6 Gb
swap partition. I am not sure it was actually using 6 Gb of swap, but
Mandrake did not gripe when I was setting up the swap. I couldn't do
the same with Redhat 7.2 because of the 2 Gb swap limit.

I do not care about anything else about the OS's. My only concern is
the maximum possible available swap, with the maximum single swap
partition size limit. Any help would be much appreciated!
Answer  
Subject: Re: Linux swap limits
Answered By: theta-ga on 18 Nov 2002 08:00 PST
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
RedHat 7.2 limits you to creating a swap partition of maximum 2 GB
during install. However, after the installation is complete, you can
increase the swap partition size as per your requirements.
  Here is a post in the RedHat mailing list that outlines the steps
you must take inorder to increase the size of your swap partition.
Though the poster refers to the IA64 version of RedHat 7.2, the
instructions should work on all RedHat versions.
  - When will we have the larger swap partition than 2GB? (use
parted!)
    From: Murakami Hiroshi
    ( http://www.redhat.com/mailing-lists/ia64-list/msg02116.html )

The above should help you increase your swap file size. However,
unless you are running a server or a large number of programs at the
same time, you should not require such large swap space.
If most of the time your apps run file, giving "out of memory" errors
only infrequently, then the problem is most likely with that
application. Perhaps a memory leak?
Make sure that you have updated your application to the newest version
available. You can download the latest RPMs from RedHat at
http://www.redhat.com/apps/download/

I dont want to post this as an answer until you have successfully
verified this technique. Please try it out and inform me of the
results.
If you need any clarifications, just ask!
:)

Clarification of Answer by theta-ga on 18 Nov 2002 08:03 PST
Whoops! I posted it as an answer. Doh!  :P
Still, if the method works, great. If not, just ask for a
clarification and I will gladly work it out with you.
Best Of Luck!
:)

Request for Answer Clarification by kodak-ga on 18 Nov 2002 16:27 PST
Hello,

The link was pretty useful. I managed to make one big partition.
However, my application seems to use only a part of it, and still
crashes when I run a big job. I would appreciate any further
suggestions or insights regarding this. Thanks for the info though.

Clarification of Answer by theta-ga on 19 Nov 2002 08:40 PST
As I told you before, the problem is most likely due to a memory leak
in the application you are using. Try to update the application to its
latest version or apply any bug fixes that may be available for it.
   Check out the instructions in the following article.They will help
you narrow down and (hopefully) elininate the culprit.
 - Linux Gazette : The Answer Guy 30 Linux Memory Usage vs Leakage
   ( http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue30/tag_memleak.html )

Hope this helps.
Best Of luck!
:)
kodak-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
My question was answered very well, and help me accomplish the goals
that I described in my first post. However, the end result was not as
useful to me as I thought it would, so I'm a little depressed :-)

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