A simple question on buffer/cache

Zou Min (zoum@comp.nus.edu.sg)
Thu, 15 Mar 2001 21:23:41 +0800


Hi,

Just wonder what exactly the difference between buffer and cache in linux
memory management is.
Cache is used for filesystems, so that files read from a fs are kept in
memory in order to provide faster access next time.
Then what is buffer used for?
As executables are also kept in memory, are they in cache or buffer?

Can somebody give any details on this? Many thanks!

-- 
Cheers!
--Zou Min 
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