--- On Thu, 19/5/11, Stan Hoeppner <stan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> From: Stan Hoeppner <stan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Best way to create RAID-6 for swap partition - existing one failed
> To: "Gavin Flower" <gavinflower@xxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: linux-raid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, neilb@xxxxxxx, mb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Thursday, 19 May, 2011, 6:59
[...]
> Forget using a partition. Simply use a swap
> file. This example creates
> a 1GB swap file in the / filesystem. You can locate
> it on any
> filesystem you wish.
>
> # swappoff -a
> # dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile1 bs=1024 count=1048576
> # mkswap /swapfile1
> # swapon /swapfile1
> # vi /etc/fstab
> Add:
> /swapfile1 swap swap defaults 0 0
>
> and remove your old entry for the failed swap partition.
>
> There is little performance difference between swap files
> and swap
> partitions with modern kernels. The kernel will map
> the disk location
> of the swap file and perform direct disk access, bypassing
> the
> filesystem and buffer cache.
>
> --
> Stan
>
I just checked the man page for mkswap, it still recommends using a partition.
"WARNING
The swap header does not touch the first block. A boot loader or disk label can be there, but it is not a recommended setup. The recommended setup is to use a separate partition for a Linux swap area."
I am curious to know the tradeoffs between having a file and using a partition for swap. While it may not make much difference in my current situation, it might to others.
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