tmpfs

Creating a RAM disk in a Linux system might sound like a task reserved for experts, but it’s quite straightforward once you understand the basics. This digital endeavor can significantly speed up the operations that require frequent disk reads/writes by leveraging the high-speed nature of RAM. In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to setup a RAM disk using tmpfs, a common temporary file storage filesystem in Linux. Q: What is a RAM disk? A: A RAM disk is a portion of RAM that your system uses as if it were a disk drive. It is much faster than using a physical disk because RAM has a higher speed of data access. The data stored in a RAM disk is temporary as it gets erased when the system shuts down or reboots.

Linux offers a powerful, yet often underappreciated feature known as tmpfs (temporary file system). This flexible file system allows you to create a storage space directly in your computer’s RAM or swap, making it extremely fast compared to traditional disk storage. In this blog, we’re going to delve into what tmpfs is, why you might want to use it, and how to set it up on your system. tmpfs is a virtual memory file system that stores data in RAM or swap space. It uses a combination of computer RAM and disk-based swap space to create a filesystem, such as /tmp, which can be used for storing files temporarily.