Virtual Memory: Performance and Policies

Tree canopy from belowPhoto by Felix Mittermeier from Pexels

We've learned the basics of virtual memory---now it is time to improve performance and make some decisions!

Learning Objectives

We'll continue learning about modern virtual memory systems and how they provide the illusion of infinite memory.

Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

Learning

Note that these videos have embedded formative assessments---you'll want to watch the videos and complete those before class, so that you can earn participation credit.

Recommended Readings

Completing the readings in this class is highly recommended---it can be very helpful to see how the concepts are explained by a different person, and the extra details can help the pieces fit together.

OSTEP: Paging: Smaller Tables and Swapping: Policies

Fun Insights

From Class

Slides

Evaluating Your Understanding

We are providing these rubrics for each module so that you can better understand what is expected and evaluate your understanding against those expectations. The hope is that, if you find yourself earning a 3 or below, you will continue to enhance your understanding until you find yourself earning a 4 or a 5.

5 4 3 2
VM Implementation and Behavior Student accurately constructs and uses the mechanisms of address translation, accurately assesses the effects of VM on a process's performance and memory accesses, and accurately employs related performance improvement mechanisms. Student accurately constructs and uess the mechanisms of address translation, satisfactorily assesses the effects of VM on a process's performance and memory accesses, and satisfactorily employs related performance improvement mechanisms. Student satisfactorily constructs and uses the mechanisms of address translation, unsatisfactorily assesses the effects of VM on a process's performance and memory accesses, and unsatisfactorily employs related performance improvement mechanisms. Student does not submit the work OR student unsatisfactorily constructs and uses the mechanisms of address translation, unsatisfactorily assesses the effects of VM on a process's performance and memory accesses, and unsatisfactorily employs related performance improvement mechanisms.
VM Policies Student accurately explains the purpose and use of swap, including of page replacement policies and the working set algorithm, and accurately demonstrates their use on example problems; student accurately analyzes the effects of page sizes. Student accurately explains the purpose and use of swap, including of page replacement policies and the working set algorithm, and satisfactorily demonstrates their use on example problems; student satisfactorily analyzes the effects of page sizes. Student satisfactorily explains the purpose and use of swap, including of page replacement policies and the working set algorithm, and unsatisfactorily demonstrates their use on example problems; student unsatisfactorily analyzes the effects of page sizes. Student does not submit the work OR student un satisfactorily explains the purpose and use of swap, including of page replacement policies and the working set algorithm, and unsatisfactorily demonstrates their use on example problems; student unsatisfactorily analyzes the effects of page sizes.
Short Answer Questions: VM-Specific Student submitted answers to given questions that accurately and succinctly answer the questions. Student submitted answers to given questions that satisfactorily and succinctly answer the questions. Student submitted answers to given questions that unsatisfactorily answer the questions. Student does not submit the answers OR submitted answers to given questions that incorrectly answer the questions.
Short Answer Questions: VM as part of the larger system Student submitted answers to given questions that accurately and succinctly answer the questions. Student submitted answers to given questions that satisfactorily and succinctly answer the questions. Student submitted answers to given questions that unsatisfactorily answer the questions. Student does not submit the answers OR submitted answers to given questions that incorrectly answer the questions.