[NTLUG:Discuss] Swap versus paging

[Robert Pearson]

On 9/9/06, Leroy Tennison <leroy_tennison at prodigy.net> wrote:
> Chris Cox wrote:
> > Leroy Tennison wrote:
> >> I was in an interview for a Linux position and was asked if I knew the
> >> difference between paging and swap (I didn't and told them so).  The
> >> reply stated that paging was better.  With Google about all I could find
> >> (first 50 hits) was that there was a difference in scope between
> >> swapping and paging.  Swapping placed whole processes on disk whereas
> >> paging always worked in 4K amounts.  Questions:
> >>
> >> What's the significance of the question?  Is this something that every
> >> Linux-literate person should know?
> >>
> >
> > No... not exactly.  It was a test of your historical computer
> > knowledge.  It's the stuff you learn perhaps in a college
> > setting... or just a good computer history class (or operating
> > systems class).
> >
> >
> >> If it is significant, what are the main things to know?  can someone
> >> point me to a reasonably brief discussion?
> >>
> >
> > Ch 5 (and Ch 6) of the "dinosaur" book... "Operating System Concepts",
> > James L. Peterson, Abraham Silberschatz.  It's pretty detailed
> > though.. .a good read....
> >
> > :)
> >
> > A classic textbook on operating systems.
> >
> > I don't know about anything specific online.. first hit
> > on google goes to:
> > http://learnlinux.tsf.org.za/courses/build/internals/ch05s03.html
> >
> > It's VERY brief.  Doesn't cover the fragmentation issues associated
> > with swapping, only covers a few paging scenarios....
> >
> > There's probably better web sites out there on the subject.

I have been told these are "wash out" or "lock-in" questions. Depends
on the employer.
I got asked what SCSI target the SCSI HBA is assigned, among other
tidbits that I thought were pretty arcane.

Real Storage Area Network Job Interview Questions :
1.What is the difference b/w SAN and NAS ?
2.What is a typical storage area network consists of - if we consider
it for implementation in a small business setup ?
3.Can you briefly explain each of these Storage area components?
4.What is the most critical component in SAN ?
5.Define RAID and its types? Which one you feel is good choice ?
6.How is a SAN managed ?
***7.Which will be the Default ID for SCSI HBA ?
8.How do you install device drivers for the HBA first time during OS
installation ?
9.What is Array ?
10.Can u describe at least 5 troubleshooting scenarios which you have
come across in detail ?

When I worked SCSI it was "0" and then "1" or the low end numbers first.
Today it is "7".
Hard coded and set in the HBA. This changed about 1998.
Something to do with SANs, fibre channel and mixing IDE and SCSI drive
chains, near as I can tell.

Chris' answer and URL are great. Concise, to the point, accurate, brief.
I tend to use Wikipedia:
<<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paging>>
<<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_memory>>

Thanks for sharing...