RAM disk or cache?

Anyone using a RAM disk or disk cache of some type to improve IO operations
with SW on XP? Vista ReadyBoost doesn't count, for so many reasons.

 

I would suspect that if you installed a RAM disk and set the registry
option to tear down the cache on shut down this would work real nice.
I have wanted to try a RAM disk for non-linear FEA for many years.

TOP

 

What is this registry option? It wipes Windows' disk cache? I've never
heard of that.

I did find a couple free ones that might be useful for testing before
investing in more memory and fully featured RAM disks:

http://www.codeguru.com/Cpp/W-
P/system/devicedriverdevelopment/article.php/c5789/

http://www.arsoft-online.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=36
&func=select&id=2

Fully featured trialware:
http://www.cenatek.com/product_page_ramdisk.php

Interesting alternative to RAM disk:
http://www.superspeed.com/desktop/supercache.php

I was hoping someone could report some experience with something like
these, but I guess I'll have to come up with my own experience. Hopefully
I can get some meaningful information with only 2GB of RAM.

Any suggestions for things to test? The IO score from SPECapc SW2007
seems obvious. Is there a way to time my own load and save times without
using a stopwatch or writing my own macro?

TIA


"Some users think that because they have a large virtual memory, it will
allow them to make a large RAMDisk. These people should not play with
sharp objects for a multitude of reasons."
- Cenatech RamDisk configuration instructions

 

That registry setting is found somewhere in MSofts KB. I don't recall
where, I just look it up when I need it. It does slow down logging
out. It is there for security because after you log off there is a
copy of many things you were doing in the cache.

You might find it on a tweakers forum too.

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That registry setting is found somewhere in MSofts KB. I don't recall

Ah yes, now I know what you mean. I ran across it several times while I was
hunting around. There seems to be a lot of interest in using RAM disks to
accelerate and eliminate temp files, especially for browsers. I'm only
interested in I/O performance, so I was trying to figure out how wiping the
cache would help performance. Oops.