[Xitami] running server on RAM drive

[Paul Reid]

> I've setup RAM drive recently, and consider putting web server pages on it
to speed up access a bit. Is it worth it ...?

My guesses are:

Most current hard drives are faster than any network that carries other
traffic,

Disk-cache in Windows (and surely unix) will quickly fill with the most-used
files and deliver them at RAM speed. This is a very real effect, I discovered
years ago in DOS when I maxed-out the disk cache. After the first time I
accessed a file, the next time(s) it loaded as if from RAM drive, unless I had
opened more than 8 megs (SmartDrv's limit) of files in the meantime.
 
I think your RAM drive is just taking RAM away from Windows' disk cache. And
Windows' disk cache actually works well, and is probably at least as fast as
the antique code in RAMdrive.

I could see a RAM drive in the case where you have rarely used files that MUST
load quickly. Being rarely used, they will fall out of disk cache between
uses. But with the relative speeds of modern drives and the typical congested
network link, you may not be able to see the difference at the browser.

 -PRR