Swap and dedicated dump devices on 192GB RAM servers
807557Apr 3 2008 — edited Apr 3 2008We are in the process of changing our standards for our server builds and need some input. Currently, we match the swap space on local disk with the size of RAM. I know this isn't necessary for "swap" any more, but we use the swap area as the dump device as well, so we are sure to have enough space there to contain a full memory dump if the server crashes.
Now we have systems coming in with 128 or even 192 GB of ram. They contain only two disks (146GB), which we mirror. Obviously there isn't enough space on these disks for 192GB of swap or a dedicated dump deivce.
We need the ability to capture full dumps when we have a crash, probably with a dedicated dump device. Should we start ordering SCSI disk enclosuers for this purpose? Can we make a SAN volume our dump device?
What is everyone else doing with these larger RAM systems?