what is the difference between swap partition and swap file

[Matthew Flaschen]

Da Liu wrote:
> hi~
> can anybody tell me the what the difference is between them? How about
> the efficiency?

Supposedly, there is no difference, assuming the swap file is
contiguous.  See http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/7/7/326 among other sources.

> I am not sure whether  I should enlarge the /swap partition or make a
> swap file as a virtural swap partition.

It shouldn't matter for performance, but I would be tempted to say
enlarge the partition (though this may involve some backing up and
restoring), simply because reinstalls will be easier in the future.

Matt Flaschen