Q: Should I have swap?

[Daniel Carrera]

Frankie Robertson wrote:
> *snip*
>> Hmmm... Is there a way to reserve a bit of RAM that only the admin can
>> use? Is there a way to assign RAM quotas?
> 
> I don't know much about the subject but I think this can be done with
> jails (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jail_%28computer_security%29).

Jails look interesting. I just have one question (I hope someone can 
answer): If I have 10 clients running Gnome+OpenOffice+Firefox will the 
RAM in the server have 10 redundant copies of those applications?

Consider this hypothetical example:
* 10 users run Gnome+OOo.
* Gnome+OOo takes 200MB of RAM.
* Each user opens a 2MB document.

What's the total RAM usage?:
* 10 x (200 + 2) = 2020MB
* 200 + 10 x 2 = 220MB


The advantage of using thin clients comes from the fact that Gnome+OOo 
would be shared so the total memory requirement is less (220MB). I 
wonder whether using a jail would negate the very reason why we use thin 
clients or whether it keeps the same benefit.

Cheers,
Daniel.
-- 
"It's like a rainbow. Without an observer at a 23 degree angle to
the light reflected a cloud of spherical droplets, there is no
rainbow. The whole universe is like that. Our spirits stand at a
23 degree to the universe."  -- Zoya Boone, Red Mars