paging and segmentation

Question 1

What is paging?

Answer 1

It allows programs to run despite insufficient memory capacity by splitting the sections up into smaller pieces. All of these sections are fixed size (equal).

Question 2

What is segmentation?

Answer 2

It allows programs to run despite insufficient memory capacity by splitting sections into even smaller sections and still provide some space for future programs. Because of this, the sizes of the sections are all different.

Question 3

Similarities between paging and segmentation

Answer 3

1. Both allow programs to run despite insufficient memory
2. Pages and segments are stored on disk
3. Pages and segments are transferred into memory when needed

Question 4

Differences between paging and segmentation

Answer 4

1. Pages are equal size, segmentation have different sizes
2. Pages are made to fit sections of memory whilst segments are complete sections of programs
3. Pages are physical division, segments are logical division

Question 5

What is virtual memory?

Answer 5

When the RAM has no more space to store items, virtual memory is used. It is faster than using the HDD and if the time spent moving pages/segments from memory to disk is more than processing instructions, the computer will start to work slower.