lkml.org 
[lkml]   [2003]   [Aug]   [19]   [last100]   RSS Feed
Views: [more markup]  [less markup]  [headers]  [forward] 
 
Messages in this thread
/
DateTue, 19 Aug 2003 15:42:40 +1000
FromNick Piggin <>
SubjectRe: cache limit
Anthony R. wrote:

>Hi,> >>>I would like to tune my kernel not to use as much memory for cache
>as it currently does. I have 2GB RAM, but when I am running one program
>that accesses a lot of files on my disk (like rsync), that program uses
>most of the cache, and other programs wind up swapping out. I'd prefer to
>have just rsync run slower because less of its data is cached, rather
>than have>all my other programs run more slowly. rsync is not allocating memory,
>but the kernel is caching it at the expense of other programs.
>>With 2GB on a system, I should never page out, but I consistently do and I
>need to tune the kernel to avoid that. Cache usage is around 1.4 GB!
>I never had this problem with earlier kernels. I've read a lot of comments
>where so-called experts poo-poo this problem, but it is real and
>repeatable and I am>ready to take matters into my own hands to fix it. I am told the cache
>is replaced when>another program needs more memory, so it shouldn't swap, but that is not
>the>behaviour I am seeing.>>Can anyone help point me in the right direction?>Do any kernel developers care about this?>>My kernel is stock 2.4.21, I run Redhat 9 on a 3GHz P4. I'd give you MB
>info but I've seen>this behaviour on other motherboards as well.>>Thank you very much for your help.>>-- tony>"Surrender to the Void." 
>-- John Lennon
>
>

Hi Anthony,
If you're up for a bit of work, give the "aa" series kernels a try, also
see how 2.6-test goes and be sure to report any problems you encounter.

The VM in stock 2.4 is slow to pick up updates due to being a stable series.
The problems definitely won't get poo-pooed here. Be sure you include a
good description of your workload and probably a log of vmstat 1 to start
with.



-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/

\
 
 \ /
  Last update: 2005-03-22 13:47    [from the cache]
©2003-2008