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Virtual Memory A Fundamental Concept in Computer Design

Virtual memory is a crucial concept in computer architecture that allows programs to access more memory than is physically available by creating an abstraction layer between physical and logical memory. It enhances efficiency, flexibility, and security through mechanisms like demand paging, memory protection, and efficient utilization of physical memory. However, challenges such as performance overhead, fragmentation, and limitations of swap disk speed can impact its effectiveness.

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12 views8 pages

Virtual Memory A Fundamental Concept in Computer Design

Virtual memory is a crucial concept in computer architecture that allows programs to access more memory than is physically available by creating an abstraction layer between physical and logical memory. It enhances efficiency, flexibility, and security through mechanisms like demand paging, memory protection, and efficient utilization of physical memory. However, challenges such as performance overhead, fragmentation, and limitations of swap disk speed can impact its effectiveness.

Uploaded by

eeshaj023
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Virtual Memory:

A Fundamental
Concept in
Computer Design
Virtual memory is a powerful concept in computer architecture that
allows programs to utilize more memory than is physically available.
By providing an abstraction layer between physical and logical
memory, virtual memory enhances efficiency, flexibility, and security.

by Eesha priya
What is Virtual Memory?
Memory Abstraction Demand Paging
Virtual memory creates a logical Virtual memory only loads page
address space that is segments of a program into
independent of the physical physical memory when they are
memory layout, allowing needed, reducing the initial
programs to access more memory footprint.
memory than is physically
available.

Memory Protection Efficient Utilization


Virtual memory provides Virtual memory enables better
isolation between programs, use of available physical
preventing unauthorized access memory by swapping unused
and enhancing overall system pages to secondary storage as
security. needed.
Addressing and Address
Translation
1 Virtual Addresses
Programs use virtual addresses to reference memory, which are
then translated to physical addresses by the memory
management unit.

2 Page Tables
Page tables map virtual page numbers to physical frame
numbers, enabling the translation of virtual to physical addresses.

3 Translation Lookaside Buffer


The TLB caches recent virtual-to-physical address translations,
improving performance by reducing the need for expensive page
table lookups.
Paging and Page Tables
Paging Page Tables Page Table Entries

Virtual memory divides the logical Page tables store the mapping Each page table entry contains
address space into fixed-size pages, between virtual pages and physical information about the corresponding
which are mapped to physical frames, enabling efficient address physical frame, such as access
memory frames. translation. permissions and presence in
memory.
Swapping and Paging Policies
Swapping
When physical memory is full, the operating system swaps
unused pages to secondary storage, such as a hard drive or
SSD, to free up space.

Page Replacement
The operating system uses page replacement algorithms, like
Least Recently Used (LRU), to determine which pages to swap
out of memory.

Demand Paging
Pages are only loaded into physical memory when they are first
accessed, reducing the initial memory footprint of a program.
Benefits of Virtual Memory

Larger Programs
Virtual memory allows programs to access more memory than is physically
available, enabling larger and more complex applications.

Efficient Utilization
By only loading required pages into physical memory, virtual memory improves
overall system efficiency and resource utilization.

Enhanced Security
Virtual memory provides memory isolation, preventing unauthorized access and
improving the overall security of the system.
Challenges and Limitations
1 Performance 2 Memory
Overhead Fragmentation
The address translation Repeated allocation and
process and memory deallocation of memory
swapping can introduce can lead to fragmentation,
latency and reduce overall reducing the efficiency of
system performance. physical memory usage.

3 Swap Disk Limitations


The speed and capacity of the secondary storage used for
swapping can limit the overall performance of the virtual
memory system.
Conclusion and Key Takeaways
1 Abstraction Layer
Virtual memory creates a logical address space that is
independent of the physical memory layout, enhancing
flexibility and efficiency.

2 Paging and Swapping


Virtual memory uses paging and swapping to manage the
allocation of physical memory, optimizing resource utilization.

3 Address Translation
The memory management unit translates virtual addresses to
physical addresses using page tables and the translation
lookaside buffer.

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