Parallel Swap File setup

[Narrowbandpaul]

Hi All,

Brand new Pixinsight user, in fact yet to even purchase it! I'm soon to acquire a new laptop with a 512GB Samsung 951 SSD. I have the option of getting them to setup a partition for me. Do I need to do this for parallel swap operations? I also plan on installing other things including Win10 on the SSD as opposed to the HDD. Would something like a 300/200GB partition be useful to me?

Secondly, once I get the laptop, I have no idea how to actually configure things for parallel swap file operations within Pixinsight. It's the first time I have ever done this so might need a bit of a hand hold to get things going. I have read various threads on here to try to acquaint myself.

Thanks very much in advance for any info.

Clear Skies

Paul

[jkmorse]

Paul,

Here are some things to look into.  First, check out http://pixinsight.com.ar/en/ which has lots of valuable info generally and talks about ramdisks and other tools re swap files.

Second, here is an except from my PI cribsheet/workbook that should help:

System Speed:
1.   If you are not already aware of it, you need to get familiar with how to speed up PixInsight operations through the use of a ramdisk and/or swap files.  You set this up in the Global Preferences section, accessible through the “Edit” tab.
2.   For information, see Juan’s original post announcing the feature here:
http://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php?topic=7644.0
3.   For some additional guidance, see the links listed by Alejandro on page 1 here:
http://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php?topic=8796.0
4.   You will need to test for yourself what produces the best results and you can test that with the benchmark script.  I have found that running with just a ramdisk blows the doors off my benchmark times but I actually use a combination of my ramdisk and swap files, placing the ramdisk first in line (referenced twice) and then two separate swap locations (each referenced twice), but test for yourself to see what works best on your particular system. (I do this because of the limited size of the ramdisk, which is only 16Gb, half my installed RAM.  While the speed of the ramdisk alone in unmatched in the benchmark test, For intense activity, like drizzle integration, I want bigger files for the system to access. As such, I have built huge swap partitions (though 64Gb should generally be sufficient for most purposes). 
5.   Seriously consider running PI on Linux for a couple of reasons.  First is system stability.  As Juan has said many times, the Linux version of PI is always going to be the most stable, best tested, and most resource laden version of PI.  Second is speed.  I have been running PI benchmarks on my various systems and the Linux version beats the pants off my Windows versions, tested in Windows 7, 8.1 and 10, as well as a Mac test case.  I selected the Linux Mint 17.2 distro because of its ease of use and easy install process but there are many options to choose from. 

By the way, if you are interested in the whole cribsheet/workbook, just drop me a line at jkmorse57@gmail.com and I will happily send you a copy.

Best,

Jim

[Narrowbandpaul]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply. I'll take a look at the links you have provided. I have ordered the laptop without a partition for the moment and I think I will see how speedy processing is with the SSD. If it struggles with 16MP images then I'll go for the swap files. Hopefully easy enough to set up.

I need to learn Pixinsight too, which as everyone points out has a steep learning cliff  . It's the right programme though so looking forward to creating some nice looking images.

Would Warren Kellers series be the best way to get started. I have watched a lot of videos in preparation for Pixi.

Thanks again,

Paul

[jkmorse]

You will love the SSD.  I ripped the harddrive out of my laptop and replaced with one and put two in my desktop which is dedicated to PixInsight processing. 

As to learning, Keller's stuff is good, and I really love the tutorials at Harry's Astroshed.  That's where I started.  And, as I said in the previous note, I have a workbook that is about 60 pages of PixInsight tool tips, proposed workflows, etc.  Feel free to drop me a line if you are interested.  I have some 90 people using it these days.

Best,

Jim

[dzso.bacsi]

Hi Paul,

Definitely visit Harry's Astroshed. http://harrysastroshed.com/pixinsight/pixinsight video html/Pixinsighthome.html Everything is there for a decent start in PI.
I have also found very useful http://lightvortexastronomy.blogspot.com/p/tutorials.html They are organised in a logical step-by-step way. Try them out with your own pictures.

Cheers

[Narrowbandpaul]

Thanks guys. I have seen some of the lightvortexastronomy guides courtesy of CloudyNights but will check them all out.

Jim, I would really appreciate your workbook and have emailed you.

Cheers

Paul