introduce
Swap partition is a feature in Linux that provides virtual memory space and multiple benefits. It allows the operating system to handle memory requirements efficiently. Therefore, swap partitioning improves system stability, responsiveness, and heavy workload handling.
This guide will explore swap partitions, their pros and cons, and outline the steps to create and manage a swap partition on a Linux system.
prerequisites
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A system running Linux.
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An account with root privileges.
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Free space on the hard drive.
What is a swap partition?
The swap partition is the part of the hard drive that is used as swap memory, the overflow space of RAM. The purpose of using a swap partition is to make the computer more capable of handling memory requests than using RAM alone.
When RAM begins to fill up, the operating system moves infrequently used processes or data from RAM to the swap partition. The underlying mechanism is swapping or paging, which uses the swap partition as virtual memory. This mechanism expands available memory when there is insufficient physical RAM to accommodate all currently active data and programs.
Although using a swap partition sounds like an easy way to increase the amount of available memory without having to upgrade your computer to more RAM, that's not the case. There are some restrictions and guidelines, described below.
Benefits of using swap partition
Swap partitions provide various benefits in Linux or other Unix-like operating systems. Some advantages of using swap partition are:
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Virtual memory expansion . Swap space serves as an extension of physical memory (RAM). When RAM is fully utilized, the operating system temporarily stores infrequently accessed data in swap space. Doing so increases the system's virtual memory, allowing users to run more applications simultaneously.
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Improve system stability . If the system runs out of physical RAM, it may become unstable or even crash. swap partition