Virtual Memory
Revision Resource
What is virtual memory?
Virtual memory combines your computer’s RAM with temporary space on your hard disk. When RAM runs low, virtual memory moves data from RAM to a space called a paging file. Moving data to and from the paging file frees up RAM to complete its work.
Page files
Page files extend the memory by creating more space for data. This increases RAM speed as there is more space for programs to run.
Benefits/Drawbacks
Virtual memory makes it seem like a computer has unlimited RAM space however if a system needs to rely too heavily on virtual memory, it will slow down as it constantly has to swap information from RAM to virtual memory.
How do changes in memory technology leading to innovate computer designs?
Greater storage means computer systems can be much smaller, especially portable ones