Must have swap partition?

[metavoid]

Im trying to clone a knoppix on hd to another hd.
Norton Ghost could not do it.

Since PartImage only clone partitions, I was wondering if I can
shoot the swap partition to make cloning faster?

Sorry if its a dumb question but there is so much to learn mastering linux.

[fingers99]

Why not not clone the swap partition and use cfdisk to make another one after you've got the cloned system running? Linux will run without swap, but IMHO it's not a great idea.

[metavoid]

I was not sure that the cloned hd would boot if it had a swap when cloned and then later it is gone. Lilo and stuff like that are a pain to fiddle with for me. So it seem far more safe to shoot the swap so that the cloned version would not expect it to be there.

But does the system really need it? I have 1gb of ram. Can get more if needed.

thanks.

[fingers99]

Sorry, I mis-typed.

I'd forget the swap for now, that is, for the cloning.

Linux on recent kernels will run fine without swap (and it won't affect lilo), but IMHO, swap is a good idea. You can always shrink one of the ghosted partitions and create a small swap.

[metavoid]

mis-typed?
the "why not - Not " part?
Well I saw it as Dont clone the swap

Ok Ill try just cloning the Boot and give it a
swap afterwards if you say that lilo wont blow up.

thanks.

[gowator]

First off, there's no need to clone/ghost or partimage a swap partition becuase its just a memory dump. swap has no filesystem at all.

secondly Linux runs GREAT without swap provided you have them memory. I ALMOST NEVER use swap on any of my machines with 1GB or up of memory. I have a 4GB partition unformatted in case I need it for DVD ripping etc. but hardly ever need it. Its not mounted by default and if you need it its a simple 'swapon'..

If I ever get to the point where i need swap ill stick another GIG or two in. Although linux handles swap much better than WinSh%t its still undesirable to have it and if its on linux has to manage it which bumps up the overhead.

[metavoid]

Well, the only reason I considered cloning the swap as well was to keep the number / order of partition on the cloned hd to avoid any issues with the loader.

As far as I understand now, it should be ok to
1) partimage the boot partition
2) create a boot partition the same size on the other hd
3) restore the partition to the other hd

It should boot then without any fiddling.

If you say it runs fine without a swap I will properly not waste time making one.

Im not quite sure why you are not happy with the virtual memory in xp.
On my workstation with 1gb ram, I often use 8-10 gb virtual memory with no slowdowns
I notice. But it does take a zillions years to shutdown.

[gowator]

8-10GB.... that the whole point.
memory is 1000x faster than disk.
If you can't live without it then its a necassary evil BUT it will always hit your performance.

Very few things in linux won't run with a GIG of RAM.
Consider the following ...
(and you can test this)
Use GRIP to rip a whole CD to MP3
In linux you can restrict your RAM if you want by passing the parameter mem=xxxx at bootup.

Try with/without swap, with 128, 256, 512 and 1GB of mem!

My XP3200 with 1GB of RAM takes <1 second to rip an average 3 minute track!
My girlfriend has a XP2200 and 256MB with swap. It takes her a minute.

Becuase everything on mine is done in RAM .... it streams the data to the processor and then just writes the file to memory and copies it at the end.
With her's it writes it to disk through the whole process.... becuase she's using swap. In other words the processor can't get data fast enough...

Just out of curiousity I have a 128GB machine at work.(not personally)... One day I might see how long it takes on there...

Try opening OpenOffice - takes ages right....
Try re-opening openOffice once its cached in RAM and it takes no perceptible time.
If you use SWAP its somewhere inbetween....

SWAP IMHO should only be used when it is absolutely necassary.....

I always create swap at the END of the disk.....that way its no big deal changing other partitions.... swap is extremely dynamic in linux,
for instance you can spead it over different disks and gain performance...
you can give priorities to which disk to use first or last etc.
So if you need an extra 4GB you can just add 4GB and if the process your running needs another 4 only add the other 4 AFTER its needed.