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Due to the rules governing memory allocation, more computer memory is sometimes allocated than is needed. For example, memory can only be provided to programs in chunks (usually a multiple of 4 bytes), and as a result if a program requests perhaps 29 bytes, it will actually get a chunk of 32 bytes. When this happens, the excess memory goes to ...
If needed, contents of the computer memory can be transferred to storage; a common way of doing this is through a memory management technique called virtual memory. Modern computer memory is implemented as semiconductor memory, [5] [6] where data is stored within memory cells built from MOS transistors and other components on an integrated ...
Memory management (also dynamic memory management, dynamic storage allocation, or dynamic memory allocation) is a form of resource management applied to computer memory.The essential requirement of memory management is to provide ways to dynamically allocate portions of memory to programs at their request, and free it for reuse when no longer needed.
Virtual memory combines active RAM and inactive memory on DASD [a] to form a large range of contiguous addresses.. In computing, virtual memory, or virtual storage, [b] is a memory management technique that provides an "idealized abstraction of the storage resources that are actually available on a given machine" [3] which "creates the illusion to users of a very large (main) memory".
Apple Computer's MultiFinder of 1987 is a more modern use of this technique. Programs shipped with a requested bounds figure stored in the resource fork and the operating system attempted to move the program to an area in memory with that amount free.
The "extra memory" can be used in the page cache to cache frequently used files and metadata, such as directory information, from secondary storage. If the processor and operating system support multiple virtual address spaces, the "extra memory" can be used to run more processes.
As memory prices declined, application programs such as spreadsheets and computer-aided drafting were changed to take advantage of more and more physical memory in the system. Virtual memory in the 8088 and 8086 was not supported by the processor hardware, and disk technology of the time would make it too slow and cumbersome to be practical.
A trade-off might be made between address pins and other functions, restricting the memory physically available to an architecture even if it inherently has a higher capacity. On the other hand, segmented or bank switching designs provide more memory address space than is available in an internal memory address register.
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