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#1 2007-02-01 20:59:09

RevertTS
Member
Registered: 2006-02-25
Posts: 85

Swap Space on a (very) Small Server

I'm setting up a small fileserver/remote login box at my house.  Mostly it'll just be used for running torrents and the like (I wanted a low-power system I could leave on 24/7); later it might be turned into a firewall.  It's a mini-itx board, so it's got a built-in 800mhz processor, 512mb of ram, and an 814mb harddrive.

Since the harddrive's so small, I'm concerned about how much space I should devote, if any, to the swap partition.  Obviously 2x ram isn't even a possibility.  I'm not expecting to have a very large install; it'll mostly just be a base install + rtorrent, ssh, w3m, and the like (no X Windows).  Would there really be any reason at all to have a swap partition on a machine such as this?

Thanks for any help.

Edit: I forgot to mention data storage'll be on an external drive.

Last edited by RevertTS (2007-02-01 21:16:29)

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#2 2007-02-01 22:41:36

slux
Member
From: Rome
Registered: 2007-01-23
Posts: 23
Website

Re: Swap Space on a (very) Small Server

umh.. put the swap partition on a pen driver (for instance 256mb)? smile if the swapper is rarely invoked, the life of the pen is safe! wink
u can set the swappiness percents:

echo "20" > /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

www.tremulous.it

Cogito, ergo Arch big_smile

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#3 2007-02-01 23:00:13

iphitus
Forum Fellow
From: Melbourne, Australia
Registered: 2004-10-09
Posts: 4,927

Re: Swap Space on a (very) Small Server

put the swap on the external drive, or even, install the system to an external source, and use the internal for swap. 512mb swap should be fine.

James

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#4 2007-02-01 23:51:35

RevertTS
Member
Registered: 2006-02-25
Posts: 85

Re: Swap Space on a (very) Small Server

iphitus wrote:

install the system to an external source, and use the internal for swap.

I had thought of swapping to external, but that hadn't occured to me.  I think I'm going to try to install in <300mb, and if that doesn't work out, I'll take the external install/internal swap route. 
Thanks. smile

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#5 2007-02-02 13:05:31

lanrat
Member
From: Poland
Registered: 2003-10-28
Posts: 1,274

Re: Swap Space on a (very) Small Server

Or use a swapfile. It'll be easier to change it's size if you need it.

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