A simple hardware-software question ....

with the price of RAM not being not 2 xpensive .... why arent there any systems (2 my knowledge) where the complete OS is copied from a cheap ,slow hard-disk into a few GB's of cheap but many times faster RAM ... with a not mega fast processor .... that would be the same as tmpfs or boot disks where its all in RAM ....
That would I guess result in a system where a very fast processor & disk aren't necessary 4 a fast system ... the most expensive thing (although still quite xpensive at the moment) would be the RAM ....?
Or did I overlook the ovoius problem... ?


Da Wini G.

Can't store it permenantly... Would have to copy everything over on reboot. There is a program called RamDISK I believe it is, where you can put programs on your ram and then on shutdown it stores all the data in an .img file. Then on reboot it loads the .img file into your system memory. That would probably work...

Its basically what a liveCD does.

You could also use a solid state memory.

What you are talking about is completely possible. It is (like michaelk said) a LiveCD, but not on a CD.

That is what I do on my embedded devices. The root file system is mounted on a RAM disk, and directories that need to survive a reboot (/etc mainly) are mapped to partitions on a storage device of some type (I use a Compact Flash card).

MS3FGX
Curious, what kind embedded device i.e SBC are you running linux on?

Nothing as fancy (or as expensive) as a true SBC.

It is a VIA EPIA Mini-ITX motherboard with a solid state power supply and a 32 MB Compact Flash on the IDE chain to hold the boot initrd image/kernel and the /etc directory.

It runs a embedded version of Slackware I created that boots from a 8 MB compressed image that decompresses into a 32 MB RAMDISK. Which has telnet, FTP, SSH servers, plus network diagnostics (tcpdump, nmap, ettercap, etc).

I use them as remote network diagnostic machines, I drop one at a location I am doing some work on, and then I can control it from the main office to run tests on the remote network, simulate load, etc.

I am currently working on a version that can be used as a set top box for multimedia applications in a home network (playing videos and MP3s) with 802.11 support.

In addition to my day job, so to speak, I run a small company that builds computers for local companies, and I have been thinking of looking into mass producing them and possibly selling them, but for the time being they are just for personal use.

THX 4 ur replies ... certainly interesting stuff .
I C what I can find about RamDISK ... . et c.

|:-)

Da Wini G.

MS3FGX
Thanks for the info.

I'm looking into embedded linux for home automation.