linux-kernel - Help Understanding Linux memory management

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Message-ID: <AD98412A5373CC4AA643D9C021922A541C4DC4@cdskitexg01.cds.int>
Date:	Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:51:48 -0400
From:	"Mouawad, Tony" <Tony.Mouawad@...istiedigital.com>
To:	<linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Help Understanding Linux memory management

Hello,

I've been a MS Windows based programmer for a very long time and was
recently tossed in an environment where I am developing embedded apps on
the m68k / Linux platform.  That makes me a Linux newbie.  I started
asking a few questions on various IRC channels and was directed to this
group.  So, I will start asking:

These are questions derived from observations on the MCF 5475 CPU
running Linux 2.6.10 built for the m68k platform.  Disk swapping is
disabled.

1) When physical memory runs low, the memory manager will try to use
memory currently allocated to the pagecache.  Is this true?

2) When vm.overcommit_memory = 2 (overcommit disabled), and memory runs
low, it appears that the memory manager does not try to use memory
currently allocated to pagecache.  Is this true?

3) Is it possible to disable the pagecache?

Cheers,
Tony

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