Re: la la la la ... swappiness

Chris Friesen
2006-12-04T16:11:29Z

Aucoin wrote:

> The definition of perfectly good here may be up for debate or
> someone can explain it to me. This perfectly good data was
> cached under the tar yet hours after the tar has completed the
> pages are still cached.

If nothing else has asked for that memory since the tar, there is no
reason to evict the pages from the cache. The inactive memory is
basically "free, but still contains the previous data".

If anything asks for memory, those pages will be filled with zeros or
the new information. In the meantime, the kernel keeps them in the
cache in case anyone wants the old information.

It doesn't hurt anything to keep the pages around with the old data in
them--and it might help.

Chris