Ram Drive = Memory as Harddrive

[kelvin1704]

As stated on the title.... I understand how it does work.

Question 01
But is there a way which we can automate the start up and shut down process which allow the possibility to run the whole OS on the RAM drive and possibly, a few application?

To make it clearer, I would like to install my OS and other frequent use program on the RAM drive. The problem is, RAM will lost all the data when it is shut down, so basically, it would have to spend time copying all the files from Harddrive to RAM upon starting up and the same goes with shut down.

Question 02
Let just assume that it is possible, would it crash the systems since feeding the data to the processor would be much much faster and might cause an overhaul. Ideas?


Question 03
Any other possible problems?



(Assume that I had the money to go for MAX memory, that would give me like.... GB of memory)

 

[npc4]

Hmm, I might think that doing that might not be worth so much trouble... First, the computer would have to copy the OS files to memory, and reading the entirety might take longer than just loading the OS normally into RAM. Once it's loaded however, I guess it would be faster. But then again, if your OS has a lot of RAM to work with and has good caching, it might only gain you a couple seconds here and there. This are just my thoughts though, sorry. I don't have much experience with RAM drives, especially with loading an OS into one

I don't think it's possible to overload your processor and have any problems with that. As far as I know, your CPU is usually the fastest part of your computer and everything else is a bottleneck. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on that though (anyone).

 

[erikiksaz]

There was a post here, i can't remember under which forum, but one of the elite members (maybe Harvey?) was speaking of a board he was testing at work. It was some sort of board that allowed sdram modules to be put onto it, and it would act as a ramdrive, but without the data loss during shutdown.

 

[kelvin1704]

I remember someone else did spoke about it. Just can't remember. But i think that board is very expensive. Anyway, I am not going to shut down the computer frequently, tat is why i see it is worth doing it. But I need to do that once a while... so need that option for sure.

Oh, other than that.. does anyone knows would restarting cause any problem?

 

[kelvin1704]

Anyone?

 

[Woodchuck2000]

Question1: You're almost describing hibernation there - The ram is dumped to the hard-disk on shutdown. Then on restart, it's loaded very quickly back into memory...

Question2: The cpu requests data when it needs it. Loading things from a ramdisk simply removes the bottleneck caused by the hard disk.

 

[FishTankX]

There are programs that automate ramdisk loading (data from the harddrive) on bootup and dump it back to a harddisk image file on shutdown. They're not expensive. What you'd be better off doing is keeping all of your frequently used apps on a ramdisk and saving the rest of the space for swap. It's hard as hell to get the OS to load to the ramdisk. If you're using XP, just use RAMDISK NT, install all of your apps onto a ramdisk, use TweakXP to force WinXP's components into RAM, and you're good to go.

RAMDISk NT is 30$ though.

And by the way, to make this practical you would have to have atleast 2 gigs of RAM. I.E. 5X512 registered DIMMs. You're talking about alot of money, there.

 

[jfall]

I believe there are actual Ram hard drives on the market.. they are probably expensive as hell though

 

[kelvin1704]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Woodchuck2000: Hibernation, I think that a choice to go for the RAMDISk NT.


FishTankX: Do you think there would be substantial performance gain? Would it be like a 50% jump time saving?

jfall: Yeah, I heard about that too. Anyone knows the link to the site that actually sells that?





Anyone knows the link to the site that actually sells that?

 

[microAmp]

Originally posted by: kelvin1704
Thanks for all the feedback.
Anyone knows the link to the site that actually sells that?

Free to try, then buy.

 

[Fulcrum]

Originally posted by: jfall
I believe there are actual Ram hard drives on the market.. they are probably expensive as hell though

Yes, there are. CDW, for example, has quite a few. Yes, they are expensive!

Here's a link:

Solid State Harddrives

 

[kelvin1704]

Oh my god... the price starts from 1800 to 22000.

And some solutions its utilize PCI slot. Would that means slower speeds due to PCI bottlenecks? or it would be the same if we put the ram on the memory slot. (PCI would means we don't have to worry about future upgrades when the memory change)

and is there any one to tell me the performance gain? Thanks

 

[FishTankX]

It's pretty much like this. If you use RAMDISK NT and put up a 500 meg RAMDISK, switch over temporary internet files, and all other temporary files to that folder, have atleast 2 gigs of RAM, turn off swapfile and never turn off your computer, you'll get the same performance gains that you would with a RAMDRIVE. Just get 4X512 and save 1.5 gigs for RAM, 512 for a RAMDRIVE (which you should put your temporary internet files in, as well as other frequently modified files). Remember, after programs are loaded, they're put into RAM. With no swapfiles, it would never touch the harddrive for swapping. Once you have everything in RAM, a ramdrive would no longer help. Thus, I would just stick with lots of RAM, a swapfile that's turned off, and a small ramdisk to cache frequently used crap.

Remember, 2 gigs minimum. Unless you do almost nothing super demanding on your computer.

 

[Alphazero]

Holy crap! $30k+!!

 

[Whitedog]

THIS PAGE says that Ramdisk-NT is limited to 192MB on Intel systems...

What the &#*$#@) can anyone do with a 192MB Ram Disk? Nutting I can think of. I heard someone mention Temp Internet files... Man, hard drives are tons faster than a browsers download speed anyway, that's not going to do squat.

Just get a gob of memory and turn Paging off and leave it at that. Unless you have the $$$$$$$$$ to buy those Solid state hard drives, you're not going to get anything going worth while.

Think about it, if there were software where you could create, say GB Ram Drives... don't you think all the Hardware sites would be raving over it? There is no killer Ram Drive solution... so forget about it. If you have a good OS (NT4 - XP Pro), all you need is a GOB of ram and you're as good as you need.

.02

 

[FishTankX]

For whitedog, a program that can easily create massive RAMDISK's... 1GB+. Do research before you speak.. man...

 

[Whitedog]

FOR FishTankX---

That's Ramdisk XP, not Ramdisk NT. I did research it you dolt. I searched for Ramdisk NT... Everyone here was ranting about Ramdisk NT...

Even though, Ramdisks are not as peachie as you may think. I used to play with them a Lot years ago. They turn into a pain more than benefit. Loading them with data everyboot, saving the data...etc..

Even a 1GB Ramdisk isn't going to offer you a lot to play with. Man...

 

[kelvin1704]

Thanks everyone..

Guys, its just a mis-understanding on words. NT.... XP....
as long as we get it clear, then its a benefits to us all.

FishTankX: 2GB minimum? I wonder why do we need that much?
You see, I do video editing or converting video files... but my swap files doesn't seems to go over 500MB. I think.
Wouldn't it be much faster if we have 800MB for RAM and then 1200MB for storage. Then we could install the whole program in it or just load the files need to be convert on it.

 

[FishTankX]

Foir whitedog:That link was to refute the statment you made about 'If there was a program that allowed 1GB ramdisks.. ' and 'there is no killer ramdisk sollution'... I didn't say that you were wrong.

To Kevin:If you turn off the swapfiles, programs like video editing and photoshop are going to drastically overload RAM.

Plus, if you have any large files, the programs are going to try and load into swap first. And that's gonna overload the RAM too.

What you can do is get 2 Gigs of RAM, make a RAMDISK the size of the video you want to edit, and keep the swapfile open. XP will do it's caching thing and everyone wins.

 

[FishTankX]

Foir whitedog:That link was to refute the statment you made about 'If there was a program that allowed 1GB ramdisks.. ' and 'there is no killer ramdisk sollution'... I didn't say that you were wrong. Infact, I was wrong and didn't do my research. But the fact that you say that there is no killer RAMDISK program obviously shows that you haven't been keeping up with the scene. Also,RAMDISKS's are godsends in audio/video editing or database's because of the frequent read/write cycles.

To Kevin:If you turn off the swapfiles, programs like video editing and photoshop are going to drastically overload RAM.

Plus, if you have any large files, the programs are going to try and load into swap first. And that's gonna overload the RAM too.

What you can do is get 2 Gigs of RAM, make a RAMDISK the size of the video you want to edit, and keep the swapfile open. XP will do it's caching thing and everyone wins.

in XP, ALT+CTRL+DELETE and bring up the task manager. Then go to the performance tab after heavy hours of video editing ,and check peak commit charge. Then add 200MB to that and that's how much RAM you need if you want to turn off the swapfile.


Use the rest for a RAMDISK to cache all the files you work with.

 

[kelvin1704]

Originally posted by: FishTankX
Foir whitedog:That link was to refute the statment you made about 'If there was a program that allowed 1GB ramdisks.. ' and 'there is no killer ramdisk sollution'... I didn't say that you were wrong.

To Kevin:If you turn off the swapfiles, programs like video editing and photoshop are going to drastically overload RAM.

Plus, if you have any large files, the programs are going to try and load into swap first. And that's gonna overload the RAM too.

What you can do is get 2 Gigs of RAM, make a RAMDISK the size of the video you want to edit, and keep the swapfile open. XP will do it's caching thing and everyone wins.

Ok, to clearify... does it means that for example:
I have a 1.0 GB file to be edited.
Would it make any difference if the 1.0 GB file be in the RAMDISK or it would be the same if I physically put the file on a hard disk but have a 2.0GB ram as swap file? (Meaning it will move the 1.0GB file to RAM anyway, so having it in RAMDISK too make no difference)

 

[brinstar117]

Solid State HD on clearance not for the faint of heart

Acutally, the price has dropped on this particular unit. I remember seeing it several months ago for nearly twice the price. However, the paltry capacity of this unit seems to be quite prohibitive for all practical purposes (at least for kelvin1704's goal)

 

[kelvin1704]

thanks man for telling..

that drive is totally too small.. hehe.. especially its not justifiable for that kind of price.. hehe. wonder who would buy it..

-------------

Can anyone tell me what's the price for 1GB (single) RAM cost like? and a 512MB?

I would go and buy it.. but am just worried that if I change the motherboard, all my investment in RAM will be lost. sigh...
Just wish there is a RAM DRIVE that sells only the casing.

 

[kelvin1704]

found a good site:

http://www.storagesearch.com/msys-art1.html

 

[Whitedog]

Sorry FishTankX --- No pun intended.

RamDisk XP is a good find...