Subj : Re: programming with large memory requirements
To   : comp.programming
From : Alex Fraser
Date : Wed Sep 28 2005 09:46 am

"KRK" <karlk@eng.umd.edu> wrote in message
news:dhboou$b6d$2@grapevine.wam.umd.edu...
> I want to run a program that continually processes > 9 GBytes of data
> located in binary files.  Now, the program reads in the data as needed.
>
> Is there any sort of "External RAM" that can be loaded, and treated from
> within a program as if it is a hard drive (i.e using C statements like
> fopen() and fread() ) using a regular 32 bit PC?

Yes, eg Gigabyte i-RAM.

> I don't care that much about increasing speed.  I don't like having to
> continuously access the hard drive non-stop for days at a time.

There are several things you may be able to do to reduce access and/or make
the access pattern more "drive friendly":
- Fit more RAM.
- Change the algorithm.
- Change the implementation, eg use memory mapped files.
- Use multiple drives (independent, not a RAID setup).

Alex

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