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MD(4)			 BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual			 MD(4)

NAME
     md	-- memory disk

SYNOPSIS
     device md

DESCRIPTION
     The md driver provides support for	four kinds of memory backed virtual
     disks:

     malloc   Backing store is allocated using malloc(9).  Only	one malloc-
	      bucket is	used, which means that all md devices with malloc
	      backing must share the malloc-per-bucket-quota.  The exact size
	      of this quota varies, in particular with the amount of RAM in
	      the system.  The exact value can be determined with vmstat(8).

     preload  A	file loaded by loader(8) with type `md_image' is used for
	      backing store.  For backwards compatibility the type `mfs_root'
	      is also recognized.  If the kernel is created with option
	      MD_ROOT the first	preloaded image	found will become the root
	      file system.

     vnode    A	regular	file is	used as	backing	store.	This allows for	mount-
	      ing ISO images without the tedious detour	over actual physical
	      media.

     swap     Backing store is allocated from swap space.

     For more information, please see mdconfig(8).

SEE ALSO
     disklabel(5), disklabel(8), fdisk(8), loader(8), mdconfig(8), mdmfs(8),
     newfs(8), vmstat(8)

HISTORY
     The md driver first appeared in FreeBSD 4.0 as a cleaner replacement for
     the MFS functionality previously used in PicoBSD and in the FreeBSD in-
     stallation	process.

     The md driver did a hostile takeover of the vn(4) driver in FreeBSD 5.0.

AUTHORS
     The md driver was written by Poul-Henning Kamp <phk@FreeBSD.org>.

BSD				 March 9, 2001				   BSD

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | AUTHORS

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