Understanding the Linux Kernel

16.1. What Is Swapping?

Swapping serves two main purposes:

• To expand the address space that is effectively usable by a process

• To expand the amount of dynamic RAM (what is left of the RAM once the kernel code and static data structures have been initialized) to load processes

Let's give a few examples of how swapping benefits the user. The simplest is when a program's data structures take up more space than the size of the available RAM. A swap area will allow this program to be loaded without any problem, thus to run correctly. A more subtle example involves users who issue several commands trying to simultaneously run large applications that require a lot of memory. If no swap area is active, the system might reject requests to launch a new application. In contrast, a swap area allows the kernel to launch it, since some memory can be freed at the expense of some of the already existing processes without killing them.

These two examples illustrate the benefits, but also the drawbacks, of swapping. Simulation of RAM is not like RAM in terms of performance. Every access by a process to a page that is currently swapped-out increases the process execution time by several orders of magnitude. In short, if performance is of great importance, swapping should be used only as a last resort; adding RAM chips still remains the best solution to cope with increasing computing needs. It is fair to say, however, that, in some cases, swapping may be beneficial to the system as a whole. Long-running ...