Kernel question

L1nuxn00b703 · 03-07-2011, 06:29 PM

Hi all,
quick newb question, can someone explain to me in laymens terms the differences between the following RHEL 4 kernels:

kernel-smp
kernel-hugemem
kernel-pae

I know all 3 support more RAM in 32 bit systems but im not sure what are the differences. Which one is best to use with 10GB, 20GB, 40GB of RAM???

Thanks

AlucardZero · 03-07-2011, 06:39 PM

The "SMP" kernel supports a maximum of 16GB of main memory. Systems with more than 16GB of main memory use the "Hugemem" kernel. In certain workload scenarios it may be advantageous to use the "Hugemem" kernel on systems with more than 12GB of main memory.

"hugemem" is the same a "pae" as far as I know

Soadyheid · 03-07-2011, 07:06 PM

"SMP" Means Symmetric Multi Processing, i.e. Multiple processors/cores are supported.
"PAE" Physical address extension. Supports newer processors which can handle ,memory greater than 4Gb, up to 64Gb by using page tables.

Does this enlighten you?

Play Bonny!