Please explain "Keep Unswapped interval"

[MeSue]

Keep Unswapped interval
If the server is unused for some time, the operating system puts it into swap space. This setting determines after how many minutes the server reloads its main page to keep the server process in main memory. Set to 0 to disable the reloading.

This is a new setting in the more recent betas. I can't make sense of it, though. Can anyone take a stab at explaining it in a different way? Or suggest a setting that would be best for SlimServer running on a Windows XP PC that is used for other tasks (not dedicated to SlimServer).

TIA

[kdf]

On 23-Oct-05, at 9:19 PM, MeSue wrote:

>
>> Keep Unswapped interval
>> If the server is unused for some time, the operating system puts it
>> into swap space. This setting determines after how many minutes the
>> server reloads its main page to keep the server process in main
>> memory.
>> Set to 0 to disable the reloading.
> This is a new setting in the more recent betas. I can't make sense of
> it, though. Can anyone take a stab at explaining it in a different way?
> Or suggest a setting that would be best for SlimServer running on a
> Windows XP PC that is used for other tasks (not dedicated to
> SlimServer).
>

some users have freaked out about the amount of time it takes for
slimserver to react to any interaction after they leave it alone for a
long period of time. The theory is that this delay is due to windows
swapping slimserver out to the hard drive section of virtual memory and
it then takes a while for it to be moved back to RAM and react. The
setting then forces a slimserver command every so often to coax windows
to leave it in RAM, then leaving it running in fast memory space.

If you find that slimserver lags unacceptably to the point where you
want to fling insults at the developers when you go to select an album
after 2 hours of nothing, then you may want to set this pref to
something. If you don't mind waiting, then set it to 0

-kdf

[oreillymj]

Alternatively, buy more RAM.

Windows will chew up as much memory as you add to your machine, but having at least 1Gb for XP should cure most swapping delays.

[rme]

is there any way to launch slimserver in windows and designate it to stay memory resident instead of swapping out? or is there anyway, once it is launched to tell windows to keep it memory resident?

I wasn't sure if there was anything that could be done in windows services,etc. instead of setting this option to 30 minutes, which I am guessing will bring your pc out of standby/sleep mode every 30 minutes.

[oreillymj]

I don't believe there is anything to can do to a process in windows to ensure it's kept resident beyond what slim have tried to do with the setting mentioned.

The Windows kernal decides which processes are idle and can be swapped out to hark disk to free up RAM for other processes. It's part of the virtual memory scheme, beyond the control of programmers.

If there was some sort of API call to say, "Always keep this process in RAM", there's a chance that a number of processes would use the call, meaning that Windows would have nothing it was "allowed" to swap out, causing the system to crash or run out of physical memory.

The setting mentioned is a kinda work-around where the process is not left idle long enough for the scheduler to swap it out to disk. It should have no effect on brining your PC out of standby. When the system is in standby, application execution is suspended.

[MeSue]

Thanks, KDF! I have never noticed a lag, so I'm gonna put it at 0. I have 1.5 GB RAM.

[oreillymj]

Yes, I doubt Windows will ever need to swap Slimserver out to disk in your case.

I only have 512Mb and haven't had any problems recently, but I'm also quite ruthless about the amount of service & other stuff I allow to run at startup.

I've been meaning to buy more RAM, but memory sticks for my PSP have been sucking up disposable income ;-)