Just under 200 MB free RAM?

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AI-generated summary

In a discussion titled ‘Just under 200 MB free RAM?’ under the Installation category, Jagster expresses concern about having only 160–180 MB of free RAM on an 8 GB system running Discourse, with no swap enabled. They wonder if this is normal or if it indicates a memory issue, especially since rebuilding Discourse takes time but never fails. Falco reassures them by referencing the well-known resource linuxatemyram.com, explaining that Linux uses available RAM for caching and will free it when needed — so low ‘free’ memory is not necessarily a problem. Jagster confirms their suspicion and thanks Falco, concluding that enabling swap may not be necessary. However, Ed_S disagrees slightly, citing articles that argue swap remains useful even on systems with ample RAM — for example, to handle memory spikes, prevent OOM kills, or improve overall system stability. The consensus leans toward Jagster’s system being healthy as-is, but with a note that swap can still offer benefits beyond just compensating for low RAM.

1

I know, I know — this is more like basics of *nix, but because VPS has only Discourse and amount on RAM dictates if everything goes smoothly that’s the reason for such newu-class question.

8 GB RAM, no swap. Why free -m tells I have only 160 - 180 MB (it lives) free memory?

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Is this just another example of unused RAM is the most expensive part of memory and if there is demand to get more it will taken from cache?

Why I’m asking? I see way too often tips to use swap, and now I’m not sure if I need it. Do I have memory related issus? No, AFAIK and rebuilding takes its time, but it never dies

2

That’s a classic case of https://www.linuxatemyram.com/

3

So, as I suspected.

That was actually really nice page. Thanks.

And I would guess there is no need to swapon (if I would have mounted a swap…)

4

I think swap is still useful. See for example

and