Newsgroups: comp.arch Path: utzoo!henry From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Variable page size Message-ID: <1989Sep30.054202.14063@utzoo.uucp> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology References: <6524@ttidca.TTI.COM> Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 05:42:02 GMT In article <6524@ttidca.TTI.COM> b-jones@ttidca.tti.com (Bill Jones) writes: >What advantage does a program gain by using a page size that's greater >than the hardware's physical page size? Well, usually it's the kernel, not a specific program, that's involved. The main reason for the kernel to use a larger page size is that various forms of overhead occur on a per-page basis. A larger page size wastes a bit of memory but can greatly reduce overhead. A not-insignificant side issue is that it can be very convenient if the size of the memory pages matches the quantum of disk allocation in the file system. -- "Where is D.D. Harriman now, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology when we really *need* him?" | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu