Does storage really matter? and if it does, why not rely purely on ram caching?

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The ZFS filesystem which comes with Ubuntu does RAM caching automatically.

[jabbr]

10 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

But is it caching the entire OS into RAM? I think regular Ubuntu does this as well but I may be wrong.

 

edit: I think Ubuntu has also removed ZFS from the latest releases of the OS.

 

Ubuntu essentially loads itself into RAM. You can boot it over the network (no local drive) and then pull the network cable and it will still work. It accesses disc essentially only when you commit writes. RAMFS prevents even that.

 

ZFS is quite available from the Ubuntu repository. The caching system is sophisticated and too much to get into here.

 

People obsess over some of these details without delving into the depths of the underlying OS and hardware which can be blitheringly complex. With a good isolating network e.g. fiber, the storage media is essentially irrelevant.