swap file vs swap partition

[Matt Graham]

On 2020-10-28 08:47, Seabass via PLUG-discuss wrote:
> I tend to prefer swapfiles. Doesn't require a partition, so it
> can be resized easily and won't require you to know the
> partition number. (Opinion: fewer partitions is just easier)

Since all disks are SCSI-analogues now, having more than 15 partitions 
on a disk may get wonky.  The minor device# expansion should've made 
this possible, but you never know.  (Counterpoint: My phone has over 20 
partitions on it, probably because someone at Samsung was smoking the 
really good drugs.)

> I don't actually know a reason to make swap a partition over a
> swapfile.

Swap files have to go through the filesystem.  This means more overhead 
than a partition.  This overhead should not be noticeable on an ordinary 
x86 system from the last 15ish years unless you're doing something 
seriously crazy.

> I don't use hibernate so don't really need a swap either.

Suspend-to-disk can use swap files.  You just have to follow the 
directions in /usr/src/linux/Documentation/swsusp-and-swap-files.rst .

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