Memory Management Requirements

Memory Management Requirements

Memory Management is the procedure of separating the main memory for efficient memory processing. This process is a significant function managed by the operating system. Deprived of proper memory management, any operating system will function sluggishly and be limited in the number of tasks the system is capable of running at the same time. In a Uniprogramming system and a Multiprogramming system, the main memory is divided into two parts. One part is explicitly for the operating system, and the second part is for the programs currently being executed. Because of the capability of multiple processes in a multiprogramming system, the second section of memory must be further subdivided. There are certain requirements that must be met in order for effective memory management to be possible. These requirements include Relocation, Protection, Sharing, Logical organization, and Physical organization.

Relocation is the first requirement that must be fulfilled in order to achieve effective memory management. Multiprogramming systems are also required to efficiently work through the accumulated pool of processes that are ready to be loaded into memory in order to efficiently use processor time. Usually, a programmer is unable to know what other processes will be loaded into memory, or the locations in memory that their program processes will be loaded into. As a result of the physical limit to memory, the system must be able to put the processes somewhere else within the memory.

The processes of one program are not permitted to access or reference the processes of another program without special permission. The access restrictions of processes in memory are set in order to meet the second requirement of memory management in operating systems; protection. These protection boundaries can raise other difficulties for programmers due to the impulsiveness of process locations within the memory. In order to overcome this issue, the program has to...