[NCLUG] Testing memory pressure

[grant at amadensor.com]

I want to test how an application reacts to being starved for resources.

I have some pretty good ideas about how to create an artificial I/O load
and a CPU load.   Does anyone have a good idea for how to (from something
quick like shell or PERL) use a lot of memory so that things start to swap
out?


I am trying to get real numbers about how different database plans (hash,
loops, scans) react to different resource limitations.  I have seen it
over the years on different hardware, but I want real numbers for he same
hardware when you have to share.