Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!pacbell!belltec!jom
From: jom@belltec.UUCP (Jerry Merlaine)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: RAM Disks are obsolete
Keywords: Solid State Wafers
Message-ID: <334@belltec.UUCP>
Date: 14 Jan 89 20:13:17 GMT
Organization: Bell Technologies, Fremont, CA
Lines: 15

With a RAM disk, you can't re-use the RAM for something else when the
file system (database or whatnot) is not using it.
With a RAM file system, however, you can allocate RAM when the user
wants to store data and throw it away when the user removes files.

Building a special-purpose RAM disk with a disk controller interface
is a classic case of hardware people not talking to software people 
but instead going off and building something cute but useless.

I would share the slow storage between a RAM filesystem, which would get
first priority.  Second priority would be local buffer caching for
NFS or RFS clients.  Third priority would be local disk buffer caching.

Jerry O. Merlaine
pacbell.com!belltec!jom