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#1 2012-02-08 13:35:06

mich04
Member
From: Illinois - United States
Registered: 2011-10-25
Posts: 390

Arch Linux In Ram [Solved]

Hey there,
I was looking for updated information on running Arch in ram, I would really like to run it off a flash drive into ram and have a save file for all my configuration. I run puppy linux from a flash drive into ram and it is quite fast. Arch has a way better package manager though. I figured since we have huge pen drives now that the possibilities of this scenario would be more realistic. There are many wonderful reasons to do this.

1. Eliminating the hard drive in the case, could result in smaller computers. This could help make cooler and quieter computers as well.

2. The speed increase would be phenomenal. I have an ssd hard drive, but running in ram I believe is a lot faster.

3. System configuration could be safer. Say you did something that did not fully optimize your brain cells. Well there could be the option of rebooting without saving the current configuration.

Drawbacks

1. Power Failure

2. Pendrive Failure

Any Ideas where I can find updated information?

Last edited by mich04 (2012-02-12 13:04:41)


I love computers, networking and Arch Linux. Sometimes I might ask a stupid question, but please have grace with me like I would with you.

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#2 2012-02-08 14:01:14

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Arch Linux In Ram [Solved]

mich04 wrote:

but running in ram I believe is a lot faster.

The apps you use are already loaded into RAM, so using RAM all the time would simply eliminate the startup time for the apps. SSDs are good enough with this already.
RAM modules draw power too, so I'm not sure if eliminating hard drives will actually make any difference in power consumption.

Read:
* https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Archboot
* https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ar … rchLive.29
* https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … _a_USB_key

You can read the wiki article on SSDs https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/SS … d.2FWrites - it may help with the pendrive performance too.

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#3 2012-02-08 14:25:42

mich04
Member
From: Illinois - United States
Registered: 2011-10-25
Posts: 390

Re: Arch Linux In Ram [Solved]

Yes I realize that Apps are loaded into ram already, but it would have to have some effect on the system.  There are still some aspects such as start up times that could benefit from this. My idea with this project was to make Arch Portable to other computers, so that I could take my system on the go, like Puppy Linux. Puppy linux has a very poor package management system though. Puppy Linux is very fast and very portable and it took me almost less than 5 minutes to set it up.

Power consumption would not decrease you are correct, but my idea on cooling stemmed from eliminating the internal hard drive to allow better air flow, and the fact of the matter is if you take out one component that would eliminate a heat source. Wouldn't that have some bearing on the life of the overall hardware in the computer?  I see that I have a lot of reading to do Thanks for some resources.


I love computers, networking and Arch Linux. Sometimes I might ask a stupid question, but please have grace with me like I would with you.

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#4 2012-02-09 11:00:09

gregor
Member
From: /planet/tmpfs
Registered: 2011-06-20
Posts: 175

Re: Arch Linux In Ram [Solved]

you can pitch linux a bit like i dooooo... with https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ma … erformance

preload ,zram (compcache) ,dns server ,and alter you '/etc/fstab '

tmpfs                /home/*username*/.cache    tmpfs      noatime,nodev,nosuid                      0       0

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#5 2012-02-12 13:04:27

mich04
Member
From: Illinois - United States
Registered: 2011-10-25
Posts: 390

Re: Arch Linux In Ram [Solved]

Thanks for the info that helped clear things up smile


I love computers, networking and Arch Linux. Sometimes I might ask a stupid question, but please have grace with me like I would with you.

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#6 2012-07-06 21:24:17

stele
Member
Registered: 2010-06-10
Posts: 5

Re: Arch Linux In Ram [Solved]

I have an M350 enclosure and what mich04 meant sounds very interesting. Have you been able to deepen and reach a conclusion? Our wonderful distro can be so flexible to go that far?


penryn - linux - arch -  gnome
northwood - linux - arch - lxde

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#7 2012-07-11 12:04:07

mich04
Member
From: Illinois - United States
Registered: 2011-10-25
Posts: 390

Re: Arch Linux In Ram [Solved]

@stele I started a new topic here which you might be interested in

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 1#p1127971


I love computers, networking and Arch Linux. Sometimes I might ask a stupid question, but please have grace with me like I would with you.

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