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I have 4GB RAM installed on my machine, and I'm considering using all of it (IE, installing PAE-enabled kernel). I heard there's a performance penalty for this, so I wanted to know about other's experiences. Should I proceed, or should I remain content with 3GB?

[note] I will be running Linux 2.6.32.

Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
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tshepang
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    what is your current memory usage? and what kinds of applications are you running? ones that will use more memory if they have it? e.g. postgres – xenoterracide Dec 09 '10 at 13:06
  • @xeno __top__ claims that I'm having 200MB RAM available, and 1.6GB cached. That's roughly when I'm running __Windows VirtualBox__, __Firefox__, and 3 Java apps (__Eclipse__, __Oracle SQL Developer__, and __Mule__). – tshepang Dec 09 '10 at 15:46

1 Answers1

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If you have a 64-bit processor, an alternative would be to try a 64-bit kernel.

According to this RedHat white paper, a typical server experiences around 1% performance hit, and other tasks suffered a performance hit of 0% - 10%.

In addition to having more available memory, enabling PAE means you have an NX bit, which can increase security.

Shawn J. Goff
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  • But a 64-bit kernel has problems of its own, such as compatibility. I suggest you try out the different options and see which one feels best. – Artelius Dec 09 '10 at 22:03