Re: RHEL 4 improvement in use of swap? (compared to RHEL 3)

["robert infotility com" <robert infotility com>]

Hi Ed, you wrote:

> You really don't have enough memory.  I've got a RHEL 4 rebuild and was
> forced to upgrade it from 256MB with only a single Java app that always
> runs, a bunch of Firefox windows, and an occasional use of mutt and ssh.
> I'm up to date except for the updates that just got released in the last
> day or two.
>
> Frankly, memory is cheap - far cheaper than RHEL is.  I added 512MB of
> fairly high-end memory (PC 3200, 400Mhz DDR with ECC) for $80 shipped.
> It's been a MAJOR improvement for me and I'm much, much happier.

Thanks for your quick reply. In part I'm looking for some
evidence that the same problem won't reappear when there is
more memory. Your observations post-512 M-upgrade are encouraging,
but even more encouraging would be something like "Swapping
was a problem because of factors X, Y, and Z in the kernel
but that's fixed now".

It could well be that there are no such assurances, but it's
worth asking.

Thanks for your help and all the best,
Robert Dodier