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Virtual memory compression (also referred to as RAM compression and memory compression) is a memory management technique that utilizes data compression to reduce the size or number of paging requests to and from the auxiliary storage. In a virtual memory compression system, paging requests are compressed and stored in physical memory, which is usually random-access memory (RAM), or sent as compressed to auxiliary storage such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD). In both cases the virtual memory range whose contents has been compressed during the paging request is marked inaccessible so that attempts to access compressed pages can trigger page faults and reversal of the process (retrieval from auxiliary storage and decompression). The footprint of the data being paged is reduced by the compression process; in the first instance, the freed RAM is returned to the available physical memory pool, while the compressed portion is kept in RAM. In the second instance, the compressed data is sent to auxiliary storage but the resulting I/O operation is smaller and therefore takes less time.〔〔 In some implementations, including zswap, zram and Helix Software Company’s Hurricane, the entire process is implemented in software. In other systems, such as IBM's MXT, the compression process occurs in a dedicated processor that handles transfers between a local cache and RAM. Virtual memory compression is distinct from garbage collection (GC) systems, which remove unused memory blocks and in some cases consolidate used memory regions, reducing fragmentation and improving efficiency. Virtual memory compression is also distinct from context switching systems, such as Connectix’s RAM Doubler and Apple OS 7.1, in which inactive processes are suspended and then compressed as a whole.〔 ==Benefits== By reducing the I/O activity caused by paging requests, virtual memory compression can produce overall performance improvements. The degree of performance improvement depends on a variety of factors, including the availability of any compression co-processors, spare bandwidth on the CPU, speed of the I/O channel, speed of the physical memory, and the compressibility of the physical memory contents. On multi-core, multithreaded CPUs, some benchmarks show performance improvements of over 50%.〔〔 In some situations, such as in embedded devices, auxiliary storage is limited or non-existent. In these cases, virtual memory compression can allow a virtual memory system to operate, where otherwise virtual memory would have to be disabled. This allows the system to run certain software which would otherwise be unable to operate in an environment with no virtual memory. Flash memory has certain endurance limitations on the maximum number of erase cycles it can undergo, which can be as low as 100 erase cycles. In systems where Flash Memory is used as the only auxiliary storage system, implementing virtual memory compression can reduce the total quantity of data being written to auxiliary storage, improving system reliability. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「virtual memory compression」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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