Linux is a general-purpose operating system designed to be flexible and efficient, but it does not have tunable parameters for reserving memory for caching disk pages like some other operating systems. Instead, Linux uses all excess memory for its page cache, which can influence the performance of "buffered IO" operations. The availability or lack thereof of free memory can impact write performance, with available memory playing a crucial role in maintaining stable and predictable buffered write performance. When there is sufficient memory available, writes performed by processes can take advantage of memory caching, reducing latency and increasing bandwidth. However, if the amount of allocated memory exceeds the available memory for caching, the kernel will throttle writes to prevent memory pressure, leading to increased latency and reduced performance. Additionally, Linux has a complex page cache architecture that combines different pages and types of requests, and it can also employ kernel read-ahead mechanisms to improve read performance under certain conditions. To achieve optimal performance with Linux, server memory size and application memory usage must be tuned to allow for an "active data set" that fits within the available memory for caching.