What is the purpose of the ‘swap’ space in Linux?

The purpose of swap space in Linux is to act as an overflow area for RAM. When a system runs out of physical memory (RAM), it uses swap space to temporarily hold data that would otherwise reside in RAM. This allows the system to continue functioning even under heavy memory load by offloading some processes or data to the swap space on the disk.

Using swap space can help smooth out memory management and ensure that applications can keep running without crashing due to insufficient memory. While accessing swap is significantly slower than accessing RAM, it provides a means to manage active processes without requiring additional physical memory to be installed.

The other choices do not accurately represent the function of swap space. It does not serve as a cache for files, does not store network configurations, and does not hold the kernel during updates. Each of these functions is associated with different system components or mechanisms not related to swap space.