VIRTUAL MEMORY

Question 1

Define Virtual Memory and give an overview of its functionality

Answer 1

Virtual Memory
Pretend to have more RAM than actual

Uses hard disk as extra memory

Runs bigger or multiple programs concurrently

Moves data between RAM and disk as needed

Paging → Splits memory into pages, swaps as needed

Page Table → Maps virtual addresses to physical ones

Swap Space → Disk area used when RAM is full

Question 2

State what problem Virtual Memory is designed to alleviate.

Answer 2

Not enough RAM, use disk space to run bigger/more apps.

Prevents programs from crashing.

Question 3

On a Microsoft Windows based system, state how the default Virtual Memory value is calculated.

Answer 3

calculated as 1.5 to 3 times the size of the physical RAM.

Question 4

Swap space

Answer 4

Swap Space: When RAM is full, the system uses disk space (swap space) to temporarily hold data, freeing up RAM for other tasks.