Understanding the Linux Virtual Memory Manager

Finally, a comprehensive guide to the Linux VM!

VM's behavior affects every Linux kernel subsystem and dramatically impacts overall performance. But until now, there was only one way to understand VM: study the poorly documented source one line at a time. Now there's an easier, faster alternative. This book describes VM in unprecedented detail, presenting both theoretical foundations and a line-by-line source code commentary. It systematically covers everything from physical memory description to out-of-memory management. Coverage includes:

• Linux VM 2.4 architecture in depth-with diagrams and call graphs
• Physical memory description, page tables, address spaces, and memory allocation
• High memory, swapping, shared memory, and much more
• Expert guidance for analyzing the code of any open source project
• New Linux 2.6 kernel features in every chapter

Well organized and superbly written, Understanding the Linux Virtual Memory Manager will be indispensable to every kernel programmer and researcher.

CD-ROM INCLUDED

Complete VM Learning Lab! Contains the author's new toolkit for exploring VM, including a browsable version of kernel source, CodeViz call graph generator; and VMRegress for analyzing and benchmarking VM. Also includes all code commentary in HTML, PDF, and plain text formats.