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Top Forums UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users virtual memory management, swapping paging Post 302081616 by phrazz on Wednesday 26th of July 2006 02:02:10 PM
Old 07-26-2006
swapping vs paging

paging is managing RAM data by pages (nK chunks, called page size), swapping stores it temporarily on disk if it's not needed right away to extend physical memory through a technique called virtual memory management (VM). When the kernel moves data between RAM <-> CPU that is paging, and data moved between RAM <-> DISK is swapping.

[Actually, the memory management is usu. handled but a subprocessor component called the MMU, but for practical purposes, let's just say it's in the CPU package deal. Smilie ]

Specific flavors of UNIX use slightly different techniques and tuning. Getting down to the nitty gritty is kernel tuning, which is one of the Black Arts of UNIX. For Solaris specifics, see Adrian Cockroft's book "Sun Performance and Tuning" (slightly outdated, but is considered the "bible" on Solaris tuning).

-Phrazz

See more here: Paging (Wiki)
 

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vmstat(1)						      General Commands Manual							 vmstat(1)

NAME
vmstat - report virtual memory statistics SYNOPSIS
[interval [count]] | | DESCRIPTION
The command reports certain statistics kept about process, virtual memory, trap, and CPU activity. It also can clear the accumulators in the kernel structure. Options recognizes the following options: Report disk transfer information as a separate section, in the form of transfers per second. Provide an output format that is more easily viewed on an 80-column display device. This format separates the default output into two groups: vir- tual memory information and CPU data. Each group is displayed as a separate line of output. On multiprocessor systems, this display format also provides CPU utilization on a per CPU basis for the active processors. Report the number of processes swapped in and out and instead of page reclaims and address translation faults and interval Display successive lines which are summaries over the last interval seconds. The first line reported is for the time since a reboot and each subsequent line is for the last interval only. If interval is zero, the output is displayed once only. If the option is specified, the column headers are repeated. If is omitted, the column headers are not repeated. The command prints what the system is doing every five seconds. This is a good choice of printing interval since this is how often some of the statistics are sampled in the system; others vary every second. count Repeat the summary statistics count times. If count is omitted or zero, the output is repeated until an interrupt or quit signal is received. From the terminal, these are commonly and respectively (see stty(1)). Report on the number of forks and the number of pages of virtual memory involved since boot-up. Print the total number of several kinds of paging-related events from the kernel structure that have occurred since boot-up or since was last executed with the option. Clear all accumulators in the kernel structure. This option is restricted to the super user. If none of these options is given, displays a one-line summary of the virtual memory activity since boot-up or since the option was last executed. Column Descriptions The column headings and the meaning of each column are: Information about numbers of processes in various states. In run queue Blocked for resources (I/O, paging, etc.) Runnable or short sleeper (< 20 secs) but swapped Information about the usage of virtual and real memory. Virtual pages are considered active if they belong to processes that are running or have run in the last 20 seconds. Active virtual pages Size of the free list Information about page faults and paging activity. These are averaged each five seconds, and given in units per second. Page reclaims (without Address translation faults (without Processes swapped in (with Processes swapped out (with Pages paged in Pages paged out Pages freed per second Anticipated short term memory shortfall Pages scanned by clock algorithm, per second Trap/interrupt rate averages per second over last 5 seconds. Device interrupts per second (nonclock) System calls per second CPU context switch rate (switches/sec) Breakdown of percentage usage of CPU time for the active processors User time for normal and low priority processes System time CPU idle EXAMPLES
The following examples show the output for various command options. For formatting purposes, some leading blanks have been deleted. 1. Display the default output. 2. Add the disk tranfer information to the default output. 3. Display the default output in 80-column format. 4. Replace the page reclaims and address translation faults with process swapping in the default output. 5. Display the default output twice at five-second intervals. Note that the headers are repeated. 6. Display the default output twice in 80-column format at five-second intervals. Note that the headers are repeated. 7. Display the default output and disk transfers twice in 80-column format at five-second intervals. Note that the headers repeated. 8. Display the number of forks and pages of virtual memory since boot-up. 9. Display the counts of paging-related events. WARNINGS
Users of must not rely on the exact field widths and spacing of its output, as these will vary depending on the system, the release of HP- UX, and the data to be displayed. AUTHOR
was developed by the University of California, Berkeley and HP. SEE ALSO
iostat(1). vmstat(1)
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