[Numpy-discussion] Huge arrays

[Daniel Platz]

Hi,

I have a numpy newbie question. I want to store a huge amount of data
in  an array. This data come from a measurement setup and I want to
write them to disk later since there is nearly no time for this during
the measurement. To put some numbers up: I have 2*256*2000000 int16
numbers which I want to store. I tried

data1 = numpy.zeros((256,2000000),dtype=int16)
data2 = numpy.zeros((256,2000000),dtype=int16)

This works for the first array data1. However, it returns with a
memory error for array data2. I have read somewhere that there is a
2GB limit for numpy arrays on a 32 bit machine but shouldn't I still
be below that? I use Windows XP Pro 32 bit with 3GB of RAM.

If someone has an idea to help me I would be very glad.

Thanks in advance.

Daniel