Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 19 Aug 2003 15:42:40 +1000 | From | Nick Piggin <> | Subject | Re: cache limit |
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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.
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