Matus UHLAR - fantomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >> In this case it means that the processes are trying to use more memory >> _actively_ than will fit in RAM, and you end up with a very high page >> fault rate, meaning your system spends much more time doing disk I/O >> to the swap area than it does actually computing. > > AFAIK it's usually called 'swapping', I dunno why someone called it > 'thrashing' :)
Thrashing is basically when the system is paging so much it cannot get any real work done. E.g., process A needs more RAM, so the kernel pages out lots of process B's memory -- but then process B immediately wants more RAM too, perhaps to page in the just-paged-out pages, which the kernel makes room for by paging out process A's memory ... which process A immediately wants ... etc. etc., thrash thrash :-O This is in contrast with "normal" paging, which only happens occasionally, because the act of paging out memory frees up enough RAM so that normal execution can continue _without_ paging for a while. -Miles -- Yo mama's so fat when she gets on an elevator it HAS to go down. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
