high mem

[Scott Mazur]

On Wed, 10 Jan 2007 18:52:15 -0600, Lokeey wrote
> I currently have 1GB of RAM installed and I've been noticing 
> that it's up around 946 and as high as 980. is there a way to 
> manage mem usage better. 

The Linux Kernel will cache disk access to memory where ever and when ever it
can.  This increases performance by not having to go back to the hard drive
every time a file is re-read.  The cached memory is immediately released to
applications when it's needed.

Kinfocenter will give you an easy to read status of your memory, showing how
much is used, and how much of it is disk cache vs application use.  If disk
cache is using up all your memory, that's perfectly normal.  If applications
are using up your memory, that's not normal.  Application data will be copied
in and out of swap space as required if they need more than the available
memory.  Applications can get shuffled to swap if you're running a large
number applications at the same time, but with 1GB this shouldn't happen
often.  If you're filling up swap space, this is also not normal.

Scott

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