Linux · Filesystems & Mounting

Your machine has 8 GiB of RAM but a program's memory footprint grows beyond that and it keeps running instead of crashing. What mechanism lets Linux use more memory than physical RAM, and what is it called?

Answer locked. Get the free KnowCard app to reveal it — plus spaced-repetition review so it actually sticks.

This is one card from the KnowCard library — thousands more across SAP, Linux, Python and more. In the app you get the answer, AI explanations, and cards that come back right before you would forget them. Free to start on iOS, Android or the web.

More in Filesystems & Mounting

Partitioning a disk reserves space, yet you still can't store files on that space until you do one more step. What is that step called, and what does it actually add?

Someone assumes every Linux install uses the same file system. Which type is the most common default for general Linux use, and when would you reach for xfs or btrfs instead?

You spin up a server on RHEL and never picked a file system during install. Which one did you get by default, and why does that choice fit servers?

btrfs is the default on Fedora and SUSE, so a smart guess is that RHEL supports it too. What's actually true on RHEL, and since when?

A swap partition doesn't hold a normal file system, yet you still can't just point the kernel at fresh swap space and use it. What preparation is required, and who normally does it?

You run df on a busy system and the output is cluttered with tmpfs and snap entries you don't care about. Which command gives human-readable sizes while hiding those internal file systems?

Start learning today

Free to start — download the app or use it in your browser.