Virtual memory allows access to a larger volume of memory, freeing up RAM space by copying dormant applications to the hard drive. Paging and page tables manage this process. It is a cheaper alternative to upgrading RAM.
Virtual memory is found among all computer operating systems and offers some very practical benefits to PC users. All computers have their own RAM (Physical Random Access Memory) which commonly ranges from 64 to 256 megabytes. When virtual memory is used, the system allows users to continue working without worrying about the availability of data storage or memory saturation. It is often referred to as logical memory and allows users to access a larger volume of memory, allowing them to use more applications at the same time.
With virtual memory, the system is able to search RAM for applications that are not being used and copy them to the hard drive. As a result, more RAM space is freed up and new applications can be loaded that need to be used immediately. The whole process runs automatically and the user does not need to click anything. It works by dividing the address space of application programs into many smaller pages. These smaller pages are 4K byte pages, each with various virtual memory addresses.
Paging is the process by which dormant (not in use) virtual pages are saved to the hard drive and then restored to real memory when the user needs to use a particular application. Page tables are used by computer operating systems to temporarily save the mapping of this exchange between the virtual addresses of various applications and physical (RAM) addresses. The part of the hard drive where pages are temporarily saved is called the page file.
The ability to save these temporary addresses on your hard drive isn’t just limited by RAM limitations. There is also an automatic page file calculation available. Therefore, systems with smaller RAM should have larger page files. As a result, you need to make sure that the paging file size has been set to the maximum possible value.
Each operating system has its own Paging Supervisor to manage page tables. Paging supervisors are very good at finding files in physical memory that are underused and can be used to swap with virtual memory files. However, there are some pages that cannot be swapped and are called non-pageable or resident pages.
A computer system that uses virtual memory has access to a cheaper way to create more storage space. Disk space is much cheaper than the RAM chips installed in your PC. By using virtual memory, you avoid the need to upgrade/add RAM.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
