The article discusses the use of /dev/shm, a RAM-based filesystem in Unix/Linux systems, which allows users to store files directly in memory for enhanced performance. It highlights the advantages of using /dev/shm to handle files efficiently, particularly for tasks in linguistics, while noting that files in this temporary space are lost upon reboot. The author emphasizes the significant speed improvements when working with large files stored in RAM.

The article presents a detailed diagram of the Linux disk I/O subsystem, illustrating its various components and the commands associated with each layer. It covers layers from the application to hardware, including the Virtual Filesystem, block layers, disk scheduler, and device drivers. This diagram is part of a broader work on Linux applications in operating systems and computer networks.