Frequent Question: What Is Physical and Virtual Memory in Linux?

Physical and virtual memory are forms of memory (internal storage of data). Physical memory exists on chips (RAM memory) and on storage devices such as hard disks. … Virtual memory is a process whereby data (e.g., programming code,) can be rapidly exchanged between physical memory storage locations and RAM memory.

What is virtual memory in Linux?

Linux supports virtual memory, that is, using a disk as an extension of RAM so that the effective size of usable memory grows correspondingly. The kernel will write the contents of a currently unused block of memory to the hard disk so that the memory can be used for another purpose.

What is physical memory?

Introduction. Physical memory (also known as random-access memory (RAM)) is a form of very fast, but volatile data storage. RAM modules are typically measured in nanoseconds (1000− 3), and physical disks are typically measured in milliseconds (1000− 1).