Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!tektronix!orca!tekecs!frip!andrew From: andrew@frip.gwd.tek.com (Andrew Klossner) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Non-writes to /tmp Message-ID: <9513@tekecs.TEK.COM> Date: 11 Dec 87 21:36:34 GMT References: <10776@brl-adm.ARPA> Sender: nobody@tekecs.TEK.COM Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville, Oregon Lines: 21 [] "As you know, UNIX does writes when it feels like it, and uses any available in core blocks to read from. So if a program started and finished between /etc/update's sync's, the only disk overhead would be that of creating and deleting a directory entry which is done synchronously." On my system, the major use of /tmp files is for one phase of a compiler to pass information to the next. The close in the first (writing) phase seems to force the blocks to disk. Or does it? "If you declare /tmp as a disk, you will be keeping two copies of the most recently used blocks in core." You'll only have two copies (one in the virtual /tmp) if you would otherwise have written a copy to disk (to the real /tmp). Sounds like a win to me. -=- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!tekecs!andrew) [UUCP] (andrew%tekecs.tek.com@relay.cs.net) [ARPA]