Deep Dive: What is Virtual Memory?
Part of Virtual Memory — GCSE Computer Science
This deep dive covers Deep Dive: What is Virtual Memory? within Virtual Memory for GCSE Computer Science. Revise Virtual Memory in Memory & Storage for GCSE Computer Science with 15 exam-style questions and 16 flashcards. This topic appears less often, but it can still be a useful differentiator on mixed-topic papers. It is section 2 of 9 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 2 of 9
Practice
15 questions
Recall
16 flashcards
Deep Dive: What is Virtual Memory?
Virtual memory is a memory management technique that creates the illusion that a computer has more RAM than it physically does. It does this by temporarily transferring data from RAM to disk storage (hard drive or SSD), freeing up RAM for active processes.
When your computer runs out of physical RAM, the operating system automatically moves less-used pages of memory to a special area on the hard drive called the page file (Windows) or swap space (Linux/macOS). This process is called paging or swapping.