Tips for speeding up your Linux system
Small Tweaks
Also consider the following small, yet efficient tweaks:
- Eliminate excessive cryptographic routines that involve hard drives. To prevent the I/O on your SSD or HDD from contributing to the entropy pool, you can disable the
add_random
setting for your block devices:
# echo 0 > /sys/block/sda/queue/add_random
Linux uses the entropy pool for things like generating SSH keys, SSL certificates, or anything else crypto. Preventing your SSD from contributing to this pool probably isn't a security issue, but it will save you small amounts of I/O.
- Bring parallel drive probing back. It may seem surprising, but modern-day Linux distributions still probe ATA devices serially by default, which is called staggered spin-ups (SSS). This technique goes back to a time when spinning up multiple drives at once caused power usage peaks, and thus the Linux kernel avoided parallel probes. This behavior makes little or no sense on modern systems, especially if there are no rotational drives. Enabling probing ATA drives in parallel speeds up the boot process. First, check if the
SSS
flag is set in your system:
$ dmesg | grep SSS
If it is, add the libahci.ignore_sss=1
boot option to GRUB. A Linux system with several hard drives or SSDs will see a better boot time.
- Mount
/tmp
to RAM. Most Linux systems already usetmpfs
(check it with$ df
), but you can add another RAM-backed mount point to get rid of temporary runtime clutter that usually sits in/tmp
:
$ echo "tmpfs /tmp tmpfs rw, nosuid,nodev 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab
This way your system will clear everything found in /tmp
upon every reboot. Doing the same for /var/tmp
is not recommended as long as the /var/tmp
directory is meant to store data persistently.
Conclusion
The very versatile Linux includes many modules, tools, and settings that allow you to tweak the system and improve performance. If you have a computer with insufficient memory or slower-than-expect I/O, or even if you just want to experiment to learn more about Linux, the techniques described in this article will help you take your first steps.
Infos
« Previous 1 2 3
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
OpenMandriva Lx 23.03 Rolling Release is Now Available
OpenMandriva "ROME" is the latest point update for the rolling release Linux distribution and offers the latest updates for a number of important applications and tools.
-
CarbonOS: A New Linux Distro with a Focus on User Experience
CarbonOS is a brand new, built-from-scratch Linux distribution that uses the Gnome desktop and has a special feature that makes it appealing to all types of users.
-
Kubuntu Focus Announces XE Gen 2 Linux Laptop
Another Kubuntu-based laptop has arrived to be your next ultra-portable powerhouse with a Linux heart.
-
MNT Seeks Financial Backing for New Seven-Inch Linux Laptop
MNT Pocket Reform is a tiny laptop that is modular, upgradable, recyclable, reusable, and ships with Debian Linux.
-
Ubuntu Flatpak Remix Adds Flatpak Support Preinstalled
If you're looking for a version of Ubuntu that includes Flatpak support out of the box, there's one clear option.
-
Gnome 44 Release Candidate Now Available
The Gnome 44 release candidate has officially arrived and adds a few changes into the mix.
-
Flathub Vying to Become the Standard Linux App Store
If the Flathub team has any say in the matter, their product will become the default tool for installing Linux apps in 2023.
-
Debian 12 to Ship with KDE Plasma 5.27
The Debian development team has shifted to the latest version of KDE for their testing branch.
-
Planet Computers Launches ARM-based Linux Desktop PCs
The firm that originally released a line of mobile keyboards has taken a different direction and has developed a new line of out-of-the-box mini Linux desktop computers.
-
Ubuntu No Longer Shipping with Flatpak
In a move that probably won’t come as a shock to many, Ubuntu and all of its official spins will no longer ship with Flatpak installed.