Swap partitions

2k. · 03-01-2004, 05:17 PM

Hi there,

Currently i have 2 hard disks in my PC.

I have just reduced the size of the windows partition on hda to 10 gig freeing up about 50 gig and i have a gentoo installation on hdb using 80 gig.

I want to install LFS on the now free 50 gig partition. but what i was wondering is shall i bother with a swap partition on this drive? would there be any negative impact by not having a swap partition and using the one on hdb?

thanks for any advice

Mike

Tinkster · 03-01-2004, 05:23 PM

No, there wouldn't ... however, if you had "shared" stuff,
like a common /home for both installations, it would be
advantageous to have a swapper on both hdd's because
then Linux could use the one on the hdd that's not in access
for swapping (speed gain) ...

Cheers,
Tink

slakmagik · 03-01-2004, 05:30 PM

One tip for unlikely circumstances, though: I originally had two small drives in this box with the swap on one. I figured one was plenty and I didn't need a swap on the other. So when I replaced the 15 gig drive with an 80, I moved the 15 to a different computer. But then the Slackware install on that drive had no swap and I'd have had to repartition to get any swap for it. However, the drive decided to save me the trouble of repartitioning and just died. So one of these days you might want swap space on each drive. But as long as your two drives stay together, one swap will do for all your distros.

As far as the speed gain, Tink, do they also need to be on different controllers? Earlier in the boxes life I had swap on both drives on that theory but they were both on the same controller so I don't know if it did any good.

2k. · 03-01-2004, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tinkster
No, there wouldn't ... however, if you had "shared" stuff,
like a common /home for both installations, it would be
advantageous to have a swapper on both hdd's because
then Linux could use the one on the hdd that's not in access
for swapping (speed gain) ...

Cheers,
Tink

There won't be any shared stuff on the systems except for the swap, as i want to play with the lfs installation without running the risk of destroying data / breaking my gentoo installation.

Tinkster · 03-01-2004, 05:35 PM

Quote:

As far as the speed gain, Tink, do they also need to be on different controllers? Earlier in the boxes life I had swap on both drives on that theory but they were both on the same controller so I don't know if it did any good.

Well, IDE is a stupid interface, and it would be MORE
beneficial if the HDD's weren't on the same controller,
but even if they are, it's still faster since the head-movements
on the active drive are less ...

Cheers,
Tink

slakmagik · 03-01-2004, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tinkster
Well, IDE is a stupid interface, and it would be MORE
beneficial if the HDD's weren't on the same controller,
but even if they are, it's still faster since the head-movements
on the active drive are less ...

Cheers,
Tink

But it's a cheap interface.

Okay - so it cuts the 'mechanical' speed down to the 'electrical' speed. But still has the IDE stepping on its own toes. Cool.

Tinkster · 03-01-2004, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by digiot
But it's a cheap interface. :) Okay - so it cuts the 'mechanical' speed down to the 'electrical' speed. But still has the IDE stepping on its own toes. Cool.

Yip ...

/me sighs:"SCSI ... "
If only the drives (controllers, cables, ...) weren't so
darn bloody expensive :}

Cheers,
Tink

2k. · 03-01-2004, 05:59 PM

your not joking!

am i right in thinking that if you want another performance increase then stick the swap partition at the start of the drive? because that means the heads don't have to move as far?