The size of a swap partition depends on several factors, including the specific requirements of the system, the amount of physical RAM installed, and the expected workload.

Here are some general guidelines:

1. Traditional Rule of Thumb:

   • Twice the Amount of RAM: It used to be a common recommendation to have a swap partition that is twice the size of your physical RAM. This guideline was more relevant in the past when RAM sizes were much smaller. However, with modern systems having larger amounts of RAM (e.g., 16GB, 32GB, or more), this rule is often considered excessive.

2. RAM Less than 2GB:

   • Equal to or Slightly Larger Than RAM: If your system has less than 2GB of RAM, having a swap partition roughly equal to the amount of RAM is still a reasonable guideline. For example, if you have 1GB of RAM, a 1GB swap partition might be sufficient.

3. RAM 2GB - 8GB:

   • 1.5x to 2x the Amount of RAM: If your system has between 2GB and 8GB of RAM, having a swap partition 1.5 to 2 times the size of your RAM can provide a good balance between performance and disk space usage.

4. RAM 8GB - 32GB:

   • Equal to the amount of RAM: For systems with 8GB to 32GB of RAM, having a swap partition equal to the amount of RAM is often sufficient for most workloads. In many cases, the system may not use the swap space much, if at all.

5. RAM 32GB or More:

   • Equal to or Less Than RAM: For systems with a large amount of RAM (32GB or more), having a swap partition that is equal to or even slightly smaller than the RAM size might be sufficient. In many cases, swap space may not be heavily utilized.

6. Specialized Workloads:

   • For specialized workloads, like certain types of scientific computing or large database operations, you might need to allocate more swap space based on specific requirements.

Remember that with modern systems and ample RAM, the need for swap space has decreased for many common use cases. Additionally, if you are running in a virtualized environment (e.g., cloud servers), the way swap is handled may differ.

Ultimately, it's a good practice to monitor your system's resource usage and adjust swaps accordingly. If you're unsure, erring on the side of caution by allocating a bit more space can help prevent issues related to low-memory situations.