Evaluation of desktop operating systems under thrashing conditions

Abstract

Virtual memory mechanisms allow offering more RAM memory space to processes than the amount of memory physically available in the system, using disk space as a memory extension. When there is not enough RAM memory to satisfy the active processes' working sets, the system throughput may be significantly reduced, due to the excessive paging activity. Such situation is known as memory thrashing. This paper presents an evaluation of some commodity desktop operating systems under thrashing conditions. We also identify and discuss the performance data about memory management available in each system and the mechanisms available to collect it. A portable benchmark tool was developed to bring each system to a thrashing situation and then pull it back to normality. The results observed from the systems under study are compared and discussed. © 2012 The Brazilian Computer Society.