Check the amount of RAM on the server
Is there a way to check a server (without opening it up and physically looking) at the amount of ram that is in the box in terms of how many slots are free. Also I need to know how much ram it could possibly take?
I know I can check /proc/meminfo for the RAM but I'm really more concerned with the type of ram how many slots are free/taken. i.e. I need to know how much ram I can add and what type to add to a particular but have no idea how to go about doing so.
33 Answers
One nice tool (in addition to dmidecode) is lshw.
E.g.,
$ sudo lshw -short -C memory
H/W path Device Class Description
==========================================================
/0/0 memory 64KiB BIOS
/0/400/700 memory 16KiB L1 cache
/0/400/701 memory 1MiB L2 cache
/0/1000 memory 2GiB System Memory
/0/1000/0 memory 512MiB DIMM SDRAM Synchronous 400 MHz (2.5
/0/1000/1 memory 512MiB DIMM SDRAM Synchronous 400 MHz (2.5
/0/1000/2 memory 512MiB DIMM SDRAM Synchronous 400 MHz (2.5
/0/1000/3 memory 512MiB DIMM SDRAM Synchronous 400 MHz (2.5 Or
$ sudo lshw -C memory
[...] *-cache:0 description: L1 cache physical id: 700 size: 16KiB capacity: 16KiB capabilities: internal write-back data
[...] *-memory description: System Memory physical id: 1000 slot: System board or motherboard size: 2GiB *-bank:0 description: DIMM SDRAM Synchronous 400 MHz (2.5 ns) physical id: 0 slot: DIMM_1 size: 512MiB width: 64 bits clock: 400MHz (2.5ns) *-bank:1 description: DIMM SDRAM Synchronous 400 MHz (2.5 ns) physical id: 1 slot: DIMM_3 size: 512MiB width: 64 bits clock: 400MHz (2.5ns) *-bank:2
[...]Another option is the lshw command (man page) - it gives output about lots of things including the RAM slots. The full output is very long, but sudo lshw -short gives a summary including one line per RAM slot, whether or not there is any RAM in the slot. Or for the full info on RAM, but omitting everything else you could do sudo lshw -class memory.
The output I get from sudo lshw -short is:
H/W path Device Class Description
============================================================= system ESPRIMO E ()
/0 bus D2348-A2
/0/0 memory 109KiB BIOS
/0/4 processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz
/0/4/6 memory 2MiB L2 cache
/0/7 memory 2MiB L3 cache
/0/25 memory 6GiB System Memory
/0/25/0 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
/0/25/1 memory 1GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
/0/25/2 memory 2GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
/0/25/3 memory 1GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
/0/100 bridge 82Q963/Q965 Memory Controller Hub
/0/100/2 display 82Q963/Q965 Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/3 communication 82Q963/Q965 HECI Controller
/0/100/3.2 storage 82Q963/Q965 PT IDER Controller
/0/100/3.3 communication 82Q963/Q965 KT Controller
/0/100/19 eth0 network 82566DM Gigabit Network Connection
/0/100/1a bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
/0/100/1a.1 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
/0/100/1a.7 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
/0/100/1b multimedia 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
/0/100/1d bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
/0/100/1d.1 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
/0/100/1d.2 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
/0/100/1d.7 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
/0/100/1e bridge 82801 PCI Bridge
/0/100/1f bridge 82801HO (ICH8DO) LPC Interface Controller
/0/100/1f.2 scsi0 storage 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA IDE Controller
/0/100/1f.2/0 /dev/sda disk 160GB ST3160812AS
/0/100/1f.2/0/1 /dev/sda1 volume 149GiB EXT4 volume
/0/100/1f.2/1 /dev/cdrom disk DVD-RAM GSA-H30N
/0/100/1f.3 bus 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller
/0/100/1f.5 scsi2 storage 82801H (ICH8 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller
/0/100/1f.5/0.0.0 /dev/sdb disk 40GB KINGSTON SSDNow
/0/100/1f.5/0.0.0/1 /dev/sdb1 volume 31GiB EXT4 volume
/0/100/1f.5/0.0.0/2 /dev/sdb2 volume 5867MiB Extended partition
/0/100/1f.5/0.0.0/2/5 /dev/sdb5 volume 5867MiB Linux swap / Solaris partition
/1 power S26113-E505-V80
/2 wlan0 network Wireless interfaceThe output I get from sudo lshw -class memory is:
*-firmware description: BIOS vendor: FUJITSU SIEMENS // Phoenix Technologies Ltd. physical id: 0 version: 6.00 R1.02.2348.A2 date: 09/18/2006 size: 109KiB capacity: 448KiB capabilities: pci pnp upgrade shadowing escd cdboot bootselect int13floppynec int13floppytoshiba int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb ls120boot zipboot biosbootspecification *-cache description: L2 cache physical id: 6 slot: L2 Cache size: 2MiB capacity: 2MiB capabilities: burst internal write-back unified *-cache description: L3 cache physical id: 7 slot: L3 Cache size: 2MiB capacity: 16MiB capabilities: burst internal write-back unified *-memory description: System Memory physical id: 25 slot: System board or motherboard size: 6GiB *-bank:0 description: DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns) physical id: 0 slot: Slot-1 size: 2GiB width: 40968 bits clock: 533MHz (1.9ns) *-bank:1 description: DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns) physical id: 1 slot: Slot-3 size: 1GiB width: 41480 bits clock: 533MHz (1.9ns) *-bank:2 description: DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns) physical id: 2 slot: Slot-2 size: 2GiB width: 41992 bits clock: 533MHz (1.9ns) *-bank:3 description: DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns) physical id: 3 slot: Slot-4 size: 1GiB width: 42504 bits clock: 533MHz (1.9ns)Try
sudo dmidecode --type 17
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.4 present.
Handle 0x0018, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0017 Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: 64 bits Data Width: 64 bits Size: 2048 MB Form Factor: DIMM Set: None Locator: J6H1 Bank Locator: CHAN A DIMM 0 Type: DDR2 Type Detail: Synchronous Speed: 800 MHz (1.2 ns) Manufacturer: 0x2CFFFFFFFFFFFFFF Serial Number: 0x00000000 Asset Tag: Unknown Part Number: 0x5A494F4E203830302D3247422D413131382D
Handle 0x001A, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0017 Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: Unknown Data Width: Unknown Size: No Module Installed Form Factor: DIMM Set: None Locator: J6H2 Bank Locator: CHAN A DIMM 1 Type: DDR2 Type Detail: None Speed: Unknown Manufacturer: NO DIMM Serial Number: NO DIMM Asset Tag: NO DIMM Part Number: NO DIMMIf type 17 doesn't do it for you, you could try one of the other memory types listed here, e.g. 6 or 37.
