on Fri, Mar 16, 2001 at 09:59:39AM -0700, Simmons-Davis (simmonsdavis@frontier.net) wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I would like to know the minimum amount of RAM a computer needs in order to
> run a basic Linux setup and then also the minimum for X Window System.
Some guidelines.
- 4 M: bare minimum for Linux kernel, and you'll need to specify some
configurations to get there.
- 8 M: minimum basic linux configuration. I don't think modern Debians
will install into 8 MB.
- ~16-32 M: you'll need something in this range to let the packaging
system run. It likes to store stuff in RAM.
- ~32-64 M: minimum I'd recommend for a single-usr workstation,
running X, a lightweight window manager (not GNOME/KDE), and,
sometimes, Netscape. You'll be swapping a fair piece.
- ~96-128 M: comfortable single-user general purpose workstation.
Tends to minimize swapping under most circumstances.
- 128 M - 1G: high end workstation, mid-level server. Particularly
useful if you're running VMWare, StarOffice, that bloated stuck pig
of an office suite, or a heavily loaded services (apache, mysql,
file/print).
- 1G - 4G: high-end server. I believe the maximum addressable memory
on Linux is currently 4GB, with a patch. Could be wrong on this.
There's a lot of flexibility on all of this, and personal expectations
matter. More memory is almost always the first route to a faster
system. However, there's no reason a "workable" system can't
For swap, the general rule of thumb is 1-2x installed RAM, though some
people top out swap at some point, generally between 128 MB and 1 GB. I
tend to take the multiplier rule all the way up to max swap (4 GB, IIRC).
You can add swapfiles at any point later, but swap partitions are more
efficient (they don't fragment) and harder to add (you have to
repartition).
You can always experiment with lower memory configurations by specifying
the appropriat MEM= boot option, to see how your system would perform
with less memory installed. Results can be interesting.
Currently, memory for reasonably up-to-date systems is pretty cheap
(DIMMs). If you're buying the older SIMMs, prepare to pay a premium.
--
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? There is no K5 cabal
http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/ http://www.kuro5hin.org
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