lockednonswappable

Lockednonswappable is a term used in the context of computer memory management, specifically in relation to virtual memory systems. It refers to a memory page that is locked into physical memory and cannot be swapped out to disk. This locking mechanism is crucial for certain operations that require consistent access times and cannot tolerate the latency associated with swapping pages in and out of memory.

The primary use case for lockednonswappable pages is in real-time systems, where predictable performance is essential. For example, in audio processing applications, ensuring that the audio buffer remains in physical memory prevents audio dropouts and maintains the quality of the sound. Similarly, in video processing, locking pages ensures that frames are processed without delays, maintaining smooth playback.

Another application is in high-performance computing (HPC), where certain computations require rapid access to large datasets. Locking these datasets in memory ensures that the system can perform calculations without the overhead of swapping, thereby enhancing overall performance.

The process of locking a page involves system calls or specific APIs provided by the operating system. For instance, in Unix-like systems, the mlock function is used to lock pages into memory. Conversely, the munlock function is used to unlock them, allowing the system to manage them as usual.

While locking pages into memory provides performance benefits, it also has limitations. Excessive use of locked pages can lead to memory fragmentation and reduced overall system performance, as the operating system has less flexibility in managing memory. Therefore, it is important to use this feature judiciously and only for critical sections of code where the benefits outweigh the costs.