Mr. Boyer,
(I CC'd you in, as I've had trouble getting my account to successfully post to the blinux list and this may not go through...if it doesn't show up there, and you think it would be helpful, you're welcome to repost it to the list)
There's a good tutorial on swap partitions and swap files found on RedHat's site at:
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/s1-swap-adding.html
It's supposedly for RH 8.0 which is a bit old, but the same method should work in other distros as well. It's got two sections...one entitled "To add a swap partition", and a second entitled "To add a swap file".
A swap partition is always the better (read "faster") option if you have the opportunity, as it doesn't require going through a file-system. However, if you just want to create one on the fly, make use of it for some intensive task, and then remove it, using a simple swap file is easy way to go. Partitions, on the other hand, require you to plan ahead sufficiently to have such a partition available (or risk monkeying with partition-editing/resizing tools).
And just to cover my own tail, beware of editing/resizing partition tables...you can hose your whole box with very little effort (grins). Take care and hope it gets you put on the right path to swapping nirvana.
-tim
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