[R] big data file versus ram memory

[Mauricio Calvao]

Hi there

I am new to R and would like to ask some questions which might not make 
perfect sense. Anyhow, here they are:

1) I would like very much to use R for processing some big data files 
(around 1.7 or more GB) for spatial analysis, wavelets, and power 
spectra estimation; is this possible with R? Within IDL, such a big data 
set seems to be tractable...

2) I have heard/read that R "puts all its data on ram"? Does this really 
mean my data file cannot be bigger than my ram memory?

3) If I have a big enough ram, would I be able to process whatever data 
set?? What constrains the practical limits of my data sets??

Thanks!

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Prof. Mauricio Ortiz Calvao
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Institute of Physics, P O Box 68528
CEP 21941-972 Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Brazil

Email: orca at if.ufrj.br
Phone: (55)(21)25627483
Homepage: http://www.if.ufrj.br/~orca
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