Does linux 2.6.37 64-bit really need swap space anymore?

VolumetricSteve · 04-29-2011, 10:34 AM

Before I start a flame war, I'd like to qualify my question with...I have a boatload of ram and a VERY thin install.

(CLI openSuse 11.4-64)

If I'm running the most baseline, text-only-install...and the whole system install is like 2GB or less, and I have 8GB of ram (which I could easily upgrade to 16). At install time...do I really need a swap partition at all? What purpose could a swap serve if I have that much ram in such a trimmed down environment?

Thanks.

stress_junkie · 04-29-2011, 10:43 AM

Linux does not absolutely require a swap partition or a swap file. The need for a swap partition is strictly related to the workload of the machine. If your workload requires more RAM than your machine has got installed then you need to install a swap partition or a swap file. Otherwise swap space is not required.

druuna · 04-29-2011, 10:54 AM

Hi,

Although stress_junkie's reply is 100% technically correct, it might be important to know that certain applications demand swap space (of a certain size) to be present when installing. Oracle's application server is one of those and I bet there are more around.

This might not be an application that the OP will install, but it is not 100% clear what the OP runs on his box.

Just to be sure: The average home user will not need swap when having sufficient RAM.

TobiSGD · 04-29-2011, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by druuna

Just to be sure: The average home user will not need swap when having sufficient RAM.

There is one exception to this rule. If you want to use hibernation you need a swap partition.

VolumetricSteve · 04-29-2011, 11:24 AM

Very cool. Thanks for the help!

Out of academic curiosity, could one reconfigure linux to hibernate/suspend to ram instead of using swap space? It's not for me - I'm not hibernating, but..I wonder how that's configured and programed and such.

TobiSGD · 04-29-2011, 11:26 AM

Hibernation and suspend to RAM are two different things. Linux is without the need to reconfigure hibernation totally able to suspend to RAM.

Zetec · 04-29-2011, 03:47 PM

I think there is always a need for swap. Whether you use it or not is a different matter.

Say you have a webserver with plenty of ram. One day you have 50x the amount of visitors. Without swap your server has a very high chance of crashing, heck, even with a decent amount of swap it will probably throw its lunch up.