What size should I make the frame disk? SoftPerfect program - a tool for creating virtual disks in RAM
RAM disk - This virtual disk, created in a free area RAM, which is perceived by the operating system as separate physical disk. Due to the fact that the RAM disk is stored in fast RAM, all read/write operations from such a disk are performed almost instantly, even faster than with using SSD drive (for the most productive SSD speed data transfer is now about 560MB/s, while DDR4 memory is 12000-25000MB/s).
Using a RAM disk is advisable in systems with excess RAM. On such a RAM disk you can place cache and temporary application/system files, temporary SQL databases, thereby achieving a significant increase in application performance.
In the operating room Windows system no built-in tools creating RAM-disks, so for these purposes you have to use third-party programs (AMD RAMDisk, ImDisk, PassMark OSFMount, StarWind RAM Disk etc.).
However, in Windows Server you can create a RAM disk without using third-party programs. To do this, you can use the iSCSI driver.
First of all, you need to install a component on the server (part of the File and Storage Services role).
If you have the Windows firewall enabled, you must allow traffic to the iSCSI Service.
To allow traffic to the loopback interface for iSCSI, you need to change the value of the DWORD parameter in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\iSCSI Target registry key to 1 . You can use one command:
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\iSCSI Target" -Name AllowLoopBack -Value 1
Now open the PowerShell console and create a 5 GB virtual RAM disk with the command:
New-IscsiVirtualDisk -Path "ramdisk:testRAM.vhdx" -Size 5GB
Now you need to create an iSCSI target:
New-IscsiServerTarget -TargetName targetRAMDisk -InitiatorIds @("IPAddress:10.1.1.200")
Let's connect the RAM disk to the created iSCSI target
Add-IscsiVirtualDiskTargetMapping -TargetName targetRAMDisk -DevicePath "ramdisk:testRAM.vhdx"
Now you need to launch the iSCSI Initiator console through Server Manager
On the Targets tab, specify the IP address of your server, click Quick Connect and connect your iSCSI target.
Now open the Disk Management console and check what you have new disk 5 GB in size. This is the same RAM disk. Initialize, markup and format this disk. Assign it a drive letter.
Now you can transfer necessary files to a RAM disk and reconfigure the software to use this disk.
After rebooting the server, the RAM disk is deleted (along with all its contents) and must be recreated again.
In some third party programs To create RAM disks, it is possible to save RAM disk data to a file on your hard drive. After the system reboots, the data is extracted and placed on the RAM disk.
If you often switch between a large number applications and files, then a few seconds of difference at startup is far from a trifle. You probably know that the easiest way to get such a boost is to buy an SSD. But what if you don't have the opportunity to use it? Or maybe you already have an SSD and want to save another second or two while reducing wear on the drive? In this case, you should experiment with a RAM disk - launching applications directly from the image in RAM.
While writing this article, it was difficult for me to shake off the feeling of déjà vu. I remember about seventeen years ago I created disks in memory to speed up the work of the old “Searchs”, which worked without hard drives. Loading took place from a floppy disk; when loading into memory, a RAM disk was used (an image with software DOS). After loading the image into memory, all DOS utilities were loaded from this RAM disk, and not from a floppy disk, thanks to which the old “Search” worked much faster and the floppy disks themselves wore out less.
It turned out that the RAM disk is still relevant today. With its help (if you have a sufficiently large amount of RAM), you can speed up your computer (a memory disk works faster than an SSD) or Live USB(the idea is the same as with “Search”), extend the life of the hard drive/SSD.
Why is this necessary?
Goals can be absolutely anything. You can either install applications on the RAM disk or use it to store data. Those who like to play can install their favorite toy on the RAM disk, but then the system must have more than 8 GB of RAM.
The most logical scenario for a RAM disk is computers with conventional hard drives- especially on laptops entry level, Where hard drives They don't shine with performance. True, it will not be possible to completely replace an SSD in this way, if only because of the price. Let's say a 60GB SSD can be purchased for about $60. Organizing a RAM disk of such capacity will be problematic. Firstly, not all computers support 64 GB of RAM. Secondly, finding a module with a capacity of 32 GB is still a problem. At the time of writing, offers on Yandex.Market were mainly for memory with a frequency of 1333–1600 MHz with a price starting from 22 thousand rubles per module.
To summarize, then best option to use a RAM disk - this is a laptop with a regular hard drive and 8 GB of RAM. Of the 8 GB, 4 GB can be allocated for a RAM disk. The remaining 4 GB is enough for quite comfortable work. And on the RAM disk you can install either one “heavy” application or a set of frequently used applications.
What do we need
Firstly, at least 6 GB of RAM, the more the better. Secondly, we will need a 64-bit version of Windows to support large (more than 3.25 GB) amounts of RAM. Thirdly, you need a program to create a RAM disk and work with it. In this article we will look at the Lite version of Dataram RAMDisk. This version is free, but the maximum supported disk space in memory is only 4 GB. Paid version costs $18.99 and supports drives larger than 4GB.
Setting up a RAM disk
There is nothing complicated about setting up a RAM disk. First of all, download and install the Dataram RAMDisk program. There are no problems with installation, the program works in both 32- and 64-bit Windows versions(I personally tested its operation in 32/64-bit Windows 7 and 64-bit Windows 8), however, as already noted, the 64-bit version is recommended - this way you can support larger RAM disks.
After installation, you need to run the configuration utility (Fig. 1) - either through the main menu or directly from the installer. I had a little confusion with the configuration program. At first I didn’t pay attention to the action being performed - by default, the program does not try to create a RAM disk, but to use an existing one (even when starting it for the first time), so when I clicked the Start RAMDisk button, naturally, nothing happened, and I also could not select the RAM size -disk.
Therefore, the first thing you need to do is select the Create a new FAT disk action, after which you will have the opportunity to set the size of the RAM disk and additional parameters. You also need to select the Save them on shutdown action so that the data written to the RAM disk is saved when the system or disk is shut down. You can select the disk location by clicking the Browse button: do not try to enter it manually, otherwise, every time you press the key, the program will tell you that such a file does not exist and it will be created :).
The minimum size of a RAM disk is 40 MB (who needs that - I don’t know). The maximum is calculated approximately like this: the maximum amount of RAM is approximately 30%.
Theoretically, you can click the Start RAMDisk button and start working. But we’re not looking for easy ways, right? Therefore, select the menu command View, Advanced to set additional parameters. After this, tabs with advanced parameters will appear. So, on the Settings tab you can set the size of the RAM disk, determine the type of file system (you can even create an unformatted disk, and then format it as NTFS using Windows), select the boot sector format, set the disk label and create the TEMP directory.
On the Load/Save tab, you can enable automatic loading of the disk image at startup, as well as enable/disable saving the image upon shutdown. The Options tab allows you to set various options such as Clear RAMDisk memory on exit - an option for the paranoid, prohibiting compression of the image file on NTFS (Do not compress image file on NTFS filesystems) and others. In my opinion, the only one useful option This is precisely the ban on disk compression (Do not compress image file on NTFS filesystems), since if compression is already enabled on an NTFS disk, I see no point in compressing the disk image again, however, just as I don’t see any point in using compression on NTFS. Why first forcefully reduce performance using compressed disks, and then heroically try to improve it using a RAM disk?
Now you can press that treasured Start RAMDisk button. When you start the RAM disk for the first time, you will need to install its driver, so in the window that appears, click the “Install” button.
Next, you need to wait until the RAM disk is created and formatted. Not very good on mine fast laptop This operation took a couple of seconds, which felt like the system was slowing down while the image file was being created. After this, you can work with the RAM disk as with a regular disk.
If not selected in the program settings automatic download disk at startup, then next time (after the system reboot) you will need to select the Load a saved image action.
Results
Fans of numbers and diagrams can run a disk performance test and compare the results with usual hard disk and SSD. In this article, I will not specifically present such results, since in theory (in these diagrams) everything will be very colorful - reading performance will increase by 50 times, and when writing, a 20-fold acceleration will be felt.
But what will we get in practice? In practice, everything will not be so beautiful, but the results will still be there. So, downloading the same Word 2010 from the usual hard drive takes about three seconds on the average computer. Loading Word 2010 from a RAM disk, the image of which is located on a regular hard drive, will happen twice as fast - in about 1.5 seconds. However, loading the same application from an SSD without any RAM disks takes less than a second. Launching an application from a RAM disk whose image is located on an SSD disk will take less than half a second.
On Alex Axler's website, an interesting battle. One of the commentators wrote that he created a RAM Disk in the memory of a computer running Windows and transferred it to it " environment variables, page file and browser cache." When another asked him why there was a page file in the RAM disk, which is used (usually) in cases where Windows and applications do not have enough RAM, a third commentator pointed out that some programs require it ( file) of unconditional availability, and noted that the RAM disk greatly speeds up the work. Then the hacking began and the topic became tough. It will be interesting to remember this: some commentators noted a logical point - the RAM disk allows you to save infinitely. SSD resource. There is a certain reason for this.
But what about the page file? And this is interesting. Exists file Windows swap , and transferring it to a RAM disk is somewhat illogical, here the critics are right. In order not to explain for a long time, I’ll say it in a charade: “winrar.rar”. Think about it and you will understand why the idea of such a design is absurd. But, there is not only a Windows paging file, but also swaps individual applications, and here... the absurd idea of transferring the swap file to the RAM disk begins to become more logical and logical. In general, it is not entirely correct to call these resources swap files - rather, they are some kind of temporary files. Photoshop Feature and LR, for example, in the fact that they are created in any case - whether you like it or not. And the commentator on the Exler forum was right, he just called it incorrectly, which is why he received harsh, ironic criticism.
I’ll move a little away from the topic of swapping and tell you what a RAM disk is. I actively tinkered with them back in DOS times, and then it was possible to get them using ramdrive.sys good acceleration for some programs. Then the topic somehow faded into the background; there was no time for ramdisks. But the concept has not changed today - RAM is orders of magnitude faster than disk memory. Even the fastest SSDs (such as OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2, with their read speeds of up to 1500 megabytes per second) cannot compete with the RAM disk located in the main RAM of the computer. What can we say about the HDD - a modern 3-terabyte hard drive, for example, transfers data at speeds of up to 158 megabytes per second at the edge of the platter, and only up to 80 MB in its center (be curious - there are specific numbers in our review of 3 terabyte HDDs). For comparison, when testing the RAM disk with Crystal Disk Mark, I got the following numbers:
Writing 8 gigabytes (!) per second, reading - five. And this is also measured at DDR3 with a frequency of 1333 MHz, and if you return the settings to the standard 1600, I’m sure the numbers will be even higher. Obviously, the speed of the RAM disk is enormous, and the timings are minimal compared to anything else. Cons? Very serious. If the computer freezes or turns off unexpectedly, everything written on the RAM disk will not be saved. After restart Windows drive will be the purest. You cannot store any work on it - it is unsafe. Actually, that’s why a RAM disk is needed only for storing temporary files and something that you don’t mind erasing, but which will speed up significantly when transferred to a fast drive. Type of temporary files, folders with operational cache etc. Well, you can put the “swap file” there ;-) (see the beginning)
So, I didn’t think much about it, but for some reason a lot of unrelated acquaintances started talking about RAM disks. Today we sat with podakuni , for example, at the Photoproject school in the evening, they tested a funny new Iomega hard drive (a model especially for Mac) on his MacBook, and he also said that he uses a RAM disk, and on a Mac, and that he transferred temporary Photoshop files and Lightroom. According to him, this greatly speeds up programs. Well, I couldn’t stand it anymore - I came home, found the software and downloaded it. And at the same time I checked something. So far only preliminary, because a more detailed study will take time. The first impression is that yes, a RAM disk in Windows is needed if you work with Photoshop and LR. Moreover, both speed up noticeably on a computer that one wouldn’t dare call weak. Someone manages to get acceleration for other programs, but I’ll ignore this topic for now. And now the nuances.
By default, Lightroom keeps a gigabyte cache of pre-rendered files (its capacity can be varied), and Photoshop creates a TMP file on the specified drive. And turn off disk usage in such a role indeed it is forbidden. But they can actually be transferred to a RAM disk.
In the screenshot good example- after opening 14 photos in Photoshop (and closing them), a 2-gigabyte temporary file was created. Let me emphasize once again - the Windows swap file is on my computer completely turned off and the system has 32 (thirty-two) gigabytes of RAM. As you can see, this does not prevent Photoshop from creating temporary files, and if you have a laptop, for example, with a slow HDD that writes at a speed of only 100 megabytes per second, then it needs 20 seconds to create such a file. And he will waste time, no matter how much RAM you feed him. And even fast SSD you will need to spend some resources on this file. As practice has shown, access to this file occurs in the process Photoshop work quite active, both when using plugins, and during operations with files, and during serial processing. With Lightroom the situation is somewhat similar - when you view photos, its built-in engine Camera RAW creates a preview that it places in special folder. You can see where this folder is located in the settings. The files there are small - 500 kilobytes each, but in the process of processing the wedding photography there will be a gigabyte of them, and LR will access them. Thus, there really is a lot of meaning in transference. And considering that these files are “temporary”, there is no need to regret that they will be erased if the computer suddenly freezes or turns off.
Which RAM disk to choose? As an experiment, I installed Qsoft RAMDisk Enterprise under Windows 7 x64 Ultimate. Russian version of this driver free, and some reviews indicate that this is the best (and most productive) ramdisk for Windows. I can’t refute or confirm, I’ll just say that it started up under my OS, it works and doesn’t ask for money, and that’s already good. I note that the functions include such a thing as resetting and loading the contents of the RAM disk at startup and exit. It is understood that before turning off the PC, the contents are “hibernated” to the main media, and when Windows starts, they are loaded from there into the RAM disk. This allows you to keep the content of such a disk up-to-date and at least somehow combat energy dependence of this type"storage".
I decided that I would experiment. Does anyone already have experience? It would be great to hear what you think.
Not all users personal computers know that you can create a virtual partition in RAM and store temporary files in it. Such unusual medium information is called RAM Disk and allows you not only to increase overall system performance, but also to speed up the operation of individual applications. Moreover, a virtual disk has other advantages that allow it to stand out even from SSDs.
From this article you will learn what results can be achieved by allocating just a small part of RAM for RAM Disk. In addition, programs that allow you to create virtual partitions in just a few clicks will be discussed here. But first, a short excursion into the past.
A little history
Surprisingly, RAM Disk is far from new technology. They were used back in the days of MS-DOS and allowed you to use a computer without a hard drive. It was enough to create a small virtual partition in RAM, throw files with external media and work calmly with them. Then, when it was time to turn off the computer, the information was copied to a floppy disk and stored there.
Thanks to such a simple manipulation, it was possible to increase the speed of operations several times. In addition, floppy disks, when using a virtual partition, were needed only as temporary storage of information, which made it possible to significantly extend their service life. In principle, all these advantages are still relevant today, but with some changes.
Performance boost
Of course, now no one will use RAM Disk as a replacement for a regular hard drive or SSD. And the point here is solely that modern programs, and even more so, games stored on your hard drive simply will not fit entirely into RAM. However, no one is stopping you from transferring to virtual media separate files, selecting those that a particular application accesses most often.
In this case, several nuances should be taken into account, otherwise, by making a RAM disk on your computer, you will not increase performance, but, on the contrary, will worsen it. Here's what we're talking about:
- Allocate part of your RAM to the RAM Disk only if you have at least 6 GB of RAM left (for gaming PCs, it is recommended to leave at least 8 GB of RAM).
- Transfer to the virtual partition only those files that the application accesses very often.
- Do not try to put important system files or drivers. This can disrupt the operation of the operating system.
Also, do not forget that when you turn off or restart your computer, all information stored in the virtual partition will be moved to the hard drive. If your power goes out unexpectedly, you may lose important data.
SSD durability
Another reason why people are increasingly starting to use RAM disks is the desire to extend the life of SSD services. The fact is that the less often files are read from solid state drive, the less likely it is to fail. But RAM has a much larger safety margin, so it is logical to transfer the most active programs that constantly process any data to it.
As an example, consider Internet browsers. These applications are constantly being transferred various files into the cache and then retrieve them from there as needed. Because of this, the disk, be it an SSD or HDD, is constantly under load and its service life is reduced. If you transfer the browser cache to a RAM disk, the entire load will fall on the RAM, which is not so dangerous.
Softperfect RAM Disk
Virtual media has also become widespread because of its ease of use. Almost any user, even without any special skills, can download special application and create a RAM Disk using it. Therefore, further we will consider the most popular programs, which allow you to do just that. And the first of them is Softperfect RAM Disk.
The application allows you to create several simultaneously virtual disks, and also displays the current value of free RAM. In addition, the program has a function for automatically saving files from RAM Disk to the hard drive after turning off the computer. Unfortunately, you can only use the application for free for 30 days. After this, you will have to buy a key for Softperfect RAM disk from the developers. Using it, you activate the utility and can use it without restrictions.
Dataram RAM Disk
Perhaps one of best programs for modern operating systems. It allows you to create a RAM Disk for Win 10, but is nevertheless suitable for older versions of Windows. The application has a simple and intuitive interface, as well as the ability to set automatic saving information stored on virtual media. For example, you can set the program to flush data to your hard drive every 30 minutes, so you don't have to worry about losing it.
Unfortunately, the free version of the utility only allows you to create virtual media up to 4 GB. To remove this limitation you will have to purchase a key from the Dataram RAM Disk developers. Another minus free version programs are advertising banner, periodically appearing on the screen. However, no one is stopping you from downloading a “cracked” RAM Disk from Dataram and getting rid of the above problems.
ImDisk
The main difference between ImDisk and its closest competitors is that this program allows you to create not only disks in RAM, but also virtual CD drives for reading images. This allows you to use one utility instead of several.
There is, however, a negative point that emerged due to the versatility of the program. ImDisk's interface is quite confusing, so it will take you some time to figure it out. However, once you get the hang of it, you will find that the application allows you to create an unlimited number of virtual media.
It's also worth mentioning that ImDisk is free program. Simply put, you don’t have to shell out a large sum of money to use it or rummage through specialized forums looking for a “crack”.
Creating a RAM disk
And now it’s time to move from theory to practice and figure out how to create virtual partitions using the example of the “cracked” Softperfect RAM Disk. This operation looks like this:
- Launch the program and click on the big green plus in its main menu.
- Indicate in the appropriate field the size that you are going to allocate for RAM Disk.
- Check the "How to" option. removable disk". In this Windows case will not create unnecessary system files such as the Recycle Bin on the virtual disk.
- Select the file system format of your RAM Disk. It is recommended to specify NTFS.
- Click "OK".
After this, the virtual disk will be created and you can safely use it. By the way, in other programs this operation it is performed almost the same way, so, as you can see, there is nothing complicated about it.
What should be transferred to the RAM disk
And finally, let’s consider which files and folders should be transferred to a virtual partition to speed up the operation of the operating system and individual applications:
- Browser cache. This is especially true for an Internet browser Google Chrome and other utilities on Chromium engine.
- Folders "TEMP" and "TMP". Windows stores various temporary files in them, so the faster they are loaded from disk, the faster your operating system.
- All kinds of files of textures, models and other objects in those games where this is supported. Thanks to this, you will significantly reduce the time required, for example, to load levels or transition between locations.
You can also place individual programs that you use very often on virtual media. Try this and you'll be surprised how much faster they start working.
I talked about what a RAM disk is and what functions it performs. A RAM disk is created based on RAM. Part of the volume is taken from it and a partition is created on which you can install programs and store files. The access speed of such a disk is several times higher than that of an SSD, so it makes sense to use it for software that you frequently use. In this article I will tell you, how to create a RAM disk and move any programs and files to it.
How to create a RAM disk using SoftPerfect RAM Disk
There is one interesting utility creating a RAM partition - SoftPerfect RAM Disk. The program is in Russian, has a simple interface, but most importantly, it has the ability to transfer files from the RAM partition to the HDD. Why is this so important? The fact is that RAM is volatile memory, and when the computer is turned off, all data recorded on non-volatile memory is irretrievably destroyed. When the PC is turned off, the program will transfer the data to the hard drive, and when turned on, again to the RAM disk.
If you use a partition of RAM for temporary files, then using the function of transferring data to a hard drive is not important, but when storing on RAM important files, it makes sense to transfer files to the HDD when the device is turned off. Fortunately, the program does this automatically.
The utility really has many advantages, which means that such software will not be distributed for free. Its price is $29, but you can use the free trial version and try out the functionality. Here is a link to the program, the site is in English, but figuring out how to download is not difficult.
Let's say you have already downloaded and installed the utility. Open the SoftPerfect RAM Disk utility and click on the green plus sign. This will add a new RAM disk.
A window will open where you need to fill in some information. In the field "Size" We set the amount of RAM that you are ready to take away. It is important to note that you will not be able to use more than the amount used by the system. You can see how much memory is available in the task manager on the “Performance” tab of the “Memory” section.
If you have 12 GB of RAM, but 8 GB is available, then you should take about 4-6 GB. Not a lot, but what will be the speed of launching programs later?
We return to the window for adding a RAM disk. In the window "Mount Options" indicate the letter. In the section "File system options" let's choose NTFS. After completing all the necessary steps, click OK.
In the main window of the program we see the RAM disk we created. Next click on the tab "Image" and select "Create an image". This function of transferring data to HDD, I talked about it at the beginning of the article. It just allows you to write files and folders to your hard drive, but first you need to provide the image with space.
By clicking the button, a window opens where we select the path to save the image file IMG format. This is where data from the RAM disk will be written. Image type select "Tom". Specify the image size as a RAM disk. That is, if you specified a disk size of 4 GB, then the image size will be 4 GB. In the field "Format" specify the file NTFS system. You can write a label if you wish.
After clicking the OK button, a message about successful creation IMG image, along the path you specified.
If there is some problem with the RAM partition and files will not appear on it, then you can extract the saved image file on your hard drive and all your data will be there.
How to set up a RAM disk
We haven't started setting up the RAM partition we created yet. Right-click on the disk and select "Properties".
In the window that opens, specify the path to the image to link the RAM drive and the image. Be sure to check the box next to the item "Save the contents", otherwise the files will not be written to the image. After everything has been done, press the button "Additional".
A window with additional parameters will appear. We need to specify the time during which data will be written to the hard drive; we can specify, for example, an hour, or half an hour. Now click OK.
In the properties window, we also click the OK button and in the message that opens about remounting the disk, we also click OK.
So we have created our long-awaited and super-fast RAM disk.
If you had a desire to remove it, then this is done very simply. Right-click on it and select the option "Delete". Or press keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Del.
Of course, removing the RAM will not remove the image. The data will have to be extracted from it, and if it is not valuable, then deleted immediately.
What do we end up with? The disk will appear in the "Computer" directory with all other partitions. You can transfer any files there and work as with conventional drives. Of course, you won't be able to store files on it large size, so it can be used to store temporary files, such as the Temp folder.
How to move the Temp folder to a RAM disk
Moving system folders, including Temp, is done quite easily using variable environments. First, let's find out where the Temp folder is located:
C:\Windows\Temp
It is also located in a different path:
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp
Create a folder on the RAM disk, preferably called this: Temp. Now go to the “Computer” folder, click edit with the mouse button empty space and go to properties.
On the left we find the item « Additional options systems" and go into it.
In the section that opens, go to the “Advanced” tab and select the option "Changed Environments".
There you should see a line with the name "TEMP". Double-click on it and point to it in another window new way instead of the old value. If the letter of your RAM disk is “E”, then the path will be like this: E:\Temp. We do the same with the TMP directory, this is the second path that I indicated above.
For these changes to take effect, be sure to restart the computer.
Now you know how to create a RAM disk. Of course, they are not very large in volume, so they cannot be placed on it large files, but I think it will be suitable for a couple of programs, and all because the read/write speed of such a disk is simply enormous. After all, RAM is inferior in speed only to the processor. It probably makes sense to purchase a large amount of RAM when building a computer, at least 64 GB. Then you can make a pretty decent RAM disk.
I hope this article helped you, I will continue to look for tools that will help you get even more benefit from RAM, so stay tuned for site updates.