Solid State for Page File/Swap File

[RaidWeary]

If constant writing to your page file is a large bottleneck, what would one think of putting one of these on the MOBO and allocating it for the page file?

http://www.pqi.com.tw/product2.asp?oid=&cate1=148&PROID=115

Interesting, to say the least, could be the start of a quick relationship.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

If your system is constantly writing to the page file, the answer is more RAM, not a USB disk (which is slower on sequential read/writes than a real hard disk is, by the way).

 

[kaikow]

If your system is constantly writing to the page file, the answer is more RAM, not a USB disk (which is slower on sequential read/writes than a real hard disk is, by the way).

I agree that RAM is the answer.

To find out how much pagefile you need see PageFileUsageMonitor.

 

[RaidWeary]

I am still running XP Pro, no vista drivers for my sound card atm, which is the RAZER AC1, ive got 2 GB of patriot now but have not experimented with doing away with my page file. Right ow my page file is striped across a couple of raptors in raid 0. Its not that i have excessive page file usage but always looking for little tweaks to eliminate bottlenecks.

 

[rodney_ws]

Way back when I was studying for some silly MCP/MCSE exam, I recall an instructor saying "Add more memory" would be the right answer to virtually any performance question Microsoft would ask. Well, I guess some things never change!

 

[Gneisenau]

Doesn't solidstate memory like this have a limited write lifetime? I can't tell from the site exactly what type of memory it is using. But if it's like a standard USB thumb drive I expect it may not last that long as a swap drive.

Anyone know?

 

[RaidWeary]

"A Flash-based SSD is different. Although the most common Flash chips have around 300,000 write cycles, the best Flash chips are rated at 1,000,000 write cycles per block. On top of that, Flash SSD manufacturers employ different ways to increase the longevity of the drives. In some cases, they use a "balancing" algorithm to monitor the number of times each disk block has been written, which greatly extends the operational lifespan of the drive. Furthermore, these manufacturers also designed special "wear-leveling" algorithms where once a certain percentage threshold for a given block is reached, the SSD will swap the data in that block with the data in another block that has exhibited a "read-only-like" characteristic in the background. This reduces performance lag and avoids further wearing off of the blocks and thrashing of the disk. Even with usage patterns of writing/reading gigabytes per day, a Flash-based SSD should last several years, depending on its capacity. Add to that the inclusion of a DRAM cache in the disk architecture that further enhances its operational capabilities as well as lifespan."

Found HERE
http://www.embeddedstar.com/articles/2005/8/article20050801-2.html

I also read somewhere that the typical lifespan is going to be 5-7 years. that would be excellent

I am actually looking forward to running my OS from a SSD, like many otheres i am sure.

 

[fredgiblet]

Doesn't solidstate memory like this have a limited write lifetime? I can't tell from the site exactly what type of memory it is using. But if it's like a standard USB thumb drive I expect it may not last that long as a swap drive.

Anyone know?

It's like a million or more writes IIRC, and they make sure that they spread the load evenly across all the circuits so none of them should get significantly over utilized.

 

[Gneisenau]

Cool, I knew they did a balancing act to spread out the wear, but I have never heard the 5-7 years part. A million write cycles doesn't seem like all that much to me when I think about using it for a swap file. I guess even then, it still reads far more times then it writes. Thanks for the info.