Starting with freshly rebooted system #free -m total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 503 55 448 0 8 24 -/+ buffers/cache: 22 481 Swap: 980 0 980 #cat /proc/slabinfo slabinfo - version: 1.1 kmem_cache 64 72 108 2 2 1 ip_conntrack 0 12 320 0 1 1 urb_priv 0 0 64 0 0 1 tcp_tw_bucket 0 0 128 0 0 1 tcp_bind_bucket 2 112 32 1 1 1 tcp_open_request 0 0 128 0 0 1 inet_peer_cache 1 59 64 1 1 1 ip_fib_hash 10 112 32 1 1 1 ip_dst_cache 3 20 192 1 1 1 arp_cache 1 30 128 1 1 1 ip_arpf_cache 0 0 128 0 0 1 blkdev_requests 64 90 128 3 3 1 devfsd_event 0 169 20 0 1 1 journal_head 0 0 48 0 0 1 revoke_table 0 0 12 0 0 4 revoke_record 0 0 32 0 0 1 eventpoll pwq 0 0 36 0 0 1 eventpoll epi 0 0 128 0 0 1 dnotify_cache 0 0 20 0 0 1 file_lock_cache 2 42 92 1 1 1 fasync_cache 0 0 16 0 0 1 uid_cache 3 112 32 1 1 1 skbuff_head_cache 105 120 192 6 6 1 sock 15 20 896 4 5 1 sigqueue 0 29 132 0 1 1 kiobuf 0 0 64 0 0 1 cdev_cache 348 354 64 6 6 1 bdev_cache 30 59 64 1 1 1 mnt_cache 16 59 64 1 1 1 inode_cache 7016 7021 512 1003 1003 1 dentry_cache 7974 7980 128 266 266 1 filp 278 300 128 10 10 1 names_cache 0 11 4096 0 11 1 buffer_head 8879 17520 128 296 584 1 mm_struct 25 30 128 1 1 1 vm_area_struct 472 560 68 9 10 1 fs_cache 24 59 64 1 1 1 files_cache 25 36 448 3 4 1 signal_act 29 33 1344 10 11 1 size-131072(DMA) 0 0 131072 0 0 32 size-131072 0 0 131072 0 0 32 size-65536(DMA) 0 0 65536 0 0 16 size-65536 0 0 65536 0 0 16 size-32768(DMA) 0 0 32768 0 0 8 size-32768 2 2 32768 2 2 8 size-16384(DMA) 0 0 16384 0 0 4 size-16384 12 13 16384 12 13 4 size-8192(DMA) 0 0 8192 0 0 2 size-8192 3 5 8192 3 5 2 size-4096(DMA) 0 0 4096 0 0 1 size-4096 31 31 4096 31 31 1 size-2048(DMA) 0 0 2048 0 0 1 size-2048 111 112 2048 56 56 1 size-1024(DMA) 0 0 1024 0 0 1 size-1024 35 44 1024 9 11 1 size-512(DMA) 0 0 512 0 0 1 size-512 42 48 512 6 6 1 size-256(DMA) 0 0 256 0 0 1 size-256 24 30 256 2 2 1 size-128(DMA) 4 30 128 1 1 1 size-128 1339 1350 128 45 45 1 size-64(DMA) 0 0 64 0 0 1 size-64 256 295 64 5 5 1 size-32(DMA) 68 118 64 2 2 1 size-32 4624 4661 64 79 79 1 #updatedb #free -m total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 503 498 5 0 188 7 -/+ buffers/cache: 302 200 Swap: 980 0 980 #cat /proc/slabinfo slabinfo - version: 1.1 kmem_cache 64 72 108 2 2 1 ip_conntrack 13 24 320 2 2 1 urb_priv 0 0 64 0 0 1 tcp_tw_bucket 3 30 128 1 1 1 tcp_bind_bucket 5 112 32 1 1 1 tcp_open_request 0 0 128 0 0 1 inet_peer_cache 1 59 64 1 1 1 ip_fib_hash 10 112 32 1 1 1 ip_dst_cache 12 20 192 1 1 1 arp_cache 1 30 128 1 1 1 ip_arpf_cache 0 0 128 0 0 1 blkdev_requests 64 90 128 3 3 1 devfsd_event 0 0 20 0 0 1 journal_head 0 0 48 0 0 1 revoke_table 0 0 12 0 0 4 revoke_record 0 0 32 0 0 1 eventpoll pwq 0 0 36 0 0 1 eventpoll epi 0 0 128 0 0 1 dnotify_cache 0 0 20 0 0 1 file_lock_cache 2 42 92 1 1 1 fasync_cache 0 0 16 0 0 1 uid_cache 3 112 32 1 1 1 skbuff_head_cache 113 120 192 6 6 1 sock 18 24 896 5 6 1 sigqueue 0 29 132 0 1 1 kiobuf 0 0 64 0 0 1 cdev_cache 348 354 64 6 6 1 bdev_cache 30 59 64 1 1 1 mnt_cache 16 59 64 1 1 1 inode_cache 392608 392616 512 56088 56088 1 dentry_cache 395025 395040 128 13168 13168 1 filp 298 300 128 10 10 1 names_cache 0 2 4096 0 2 1 buffer_head 48771 64710 128 2147 2157 1 mm_struct 27 30 128 1 1 1 vm_area_struct 574 616 68 11 11 1 fs_cache 26 59 64 1 1 1 files_cache 27 27 448 3 3 1 signal_act 31 33 1344 11 11 1 size-131072(DMA) 0 0 131072 0 0 32 size-131072 0 0 131072 0 0 32 size-65536(DMA) 0 0 65536 0 0 16 size-65536 1 1 65536 1 1 16 size-32768(DMA) 0 0 32768 0 0 8 size-32768 2 2 32768 2 2 8 size-16384(DMA) 0 0 16384 0 0 4 size-16384 12 12 16384 12 12 4 size-8192(DMA) 0 0 8192 0 0 2 size-8192 3 3 8192 3 3 2 size-4096(DMA) 0 0 4096 0 0 1 size-4096 31 31 4096 31 31 1 size-2048(DMA) 0 0 2048 0 0 1 size-2048 111 112 2048 56 56 1 size-1024(DMA) 0 0 1024 0 0 1 size-1024 37 40 1024 10 10 1 size-512(DMA) 0 0 512 0 0 1 size-512 42 48 512 6 6 1 size-256(DMA) 0 0 256 0 0 1 size-256 24 30 256 2 2 1 size-128(DMA) 4 30 128 1 1 1 size-128 1351 1380 128 46 46 1 size-64(DMA) 0 0 64 0 0 1 size-64 5011 5015 64 85 85 1 size-32(DMA) 68 118 64 2 2 1 size-32 91127 91155 64 1545 1545 1 #tail /dev/zero Killed #free -m total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 503 15 488 0 2 3 -/+ buffers/cache: 9 494 Swap: 980 9 971 #cat /proc/slabinfo slabinfo - version: 1.1 kmem_cache 64 72 108 2 2 1 ip_conntrack 0 12 320 0 1 1 urb_priv 0 0 64 0 0 1 tcp_tw_bucket 0 0 128 0 0 1 tcp_bind_bucket 2 112 32 1 1 1 tcp_open_request 0 0 128 0 0 1 inet_peer_cache 2 59 64 1 1 1 ip_fib_hash 10 112 32 1 1 1 ip_dst_cache 14 20 192 1 1 1 arp_cache 1 30 128 1 1 1 ip_arpf_cache 0 0 128 0 0 1 blkdev_requests 64 90 128 3 3 1 devfsd_event 0 0 20 0 0 1 journal_head 0 0 48 0 0 1 revoke_table 0 0 12 0 0 4 revoke_record 0 0 32 0 0 1 eventpoll pwq 0 0 36 0 0 1 eventpoll epi 0 0 128 0 0 1 dnotify_cache 0 0 20 0 0 1 file_lock_cache 2 42 92 1 1 1 fasync_cache 0 0 16 0 0 1 uid_cache 3 112 32 1 1 1 skbuff_head_cache 113 120 192 6 6 1 sock 18 20 896 5 5 1 sigqueue 0 29 132 0 1 1 kiobuf 0 0 64 0 0 1 cdev_cache 17 118 64 2 2 1 bdev_cache 3 59 64 1 1 1 mnt_cache 16 59 64 1 1 1 inode_cache 209 511 512 73 73 1 dentry_cache 191 1200 128 40 40 1 filp 304 330 128 11 11 1 names_cache 0 1 4096 0 1 1 buffer_head 1338 1350 128 45 45 1 mm_struct 26 30 128 1 1 1 vm_area_struct 561 616 68 11 11 1 fs_cache 25 59 64 1 1 1 files_cache 26 27 448 3 3 1 signal_act 30 30 1344 10 10 1 size-131072(DMA) 0 0 131072 0 0 32 size-131072 0 0 131072 0 0 32 size-65536(DMA) 0 0 65536 0 0 16 size-65536 1 1 65536 1 1 16 size-32768(DMA) 0 0 32768 0 0 8 size-32768 2 2 32768 2 2 8 size-16384(DMA) 0 0 16384 0 0 4 size-16384 12 12 16384 12 12 4 size-8192(DMA) 0 0 8192 0 0 2 size-8192 3 3 8192 3 3 2 size-4096(DMA) 0 0 4096 0 0 1 size-4096 31 31 4096 31 31 1 size-2048(DMA) 0 0 2048 0 0 1 size-2048 111 112 2048 56 56 1 size-1024(DMA) 0 0 1024 0 0 1 size-1024 37 40 1024 10 10 1 size-512(DMA) 0 0 512 0 0 1 size-512 42 48 512 6 6 1 size-256(DMA) 0 0 256 0 0 1 size-256 24 30 256 2 2 1 size-128(DMA) 4 30 128 1 1 1 size-128 1339 1350 128 45 45 1 size-64(DMA) 0 0 64 0 0 1 size-64 240 472 64 8 8 1 size-32(DMA) 68 118 64 2 2 1 size-32 763 1475 64 23 25 1