Terms of the offer
Fragmentation occurs when we load and unload processes to and from the main memory. So first we will see why we do so and how this is done. This will help us to understand why fragmentation occurs. To understand this topic, you should have some knowledge of the following Operating System topics: How Does a Program Get Loaded into the Main Memory? External fragmentation is a problem in memory management where free memory is divided into small, non-contiguous blocks. Even though there may be enough total free memory to run a new program, the memory is scattered in tiny pieces, so it's impossible to find a single, large block for the program to use. This leads to wasted memory and poor system performance. Why Does It Happen? External fragmentation is caused by the dynamic allocation and deallocation of processes. Imagine memory as a ... Internal Fragmentation is the wastage of memory that occurs when fixed-sized memory blocks are allocated to processes, but the process does not use the entire allocated block. The unused portion inside the allocated block remains idle, resulting in poor memory utilization. How Internal Fragmentation is Caused? Fixed Block Allocation: When processes request memory, they are often assigned blocks larger than required. The unused space within the block is wasted. Uniform Block Sizes: If all ... Memory fragmentation is a prevalent problem in operating systems that can result in the inefficient use of memory resources. There are two types of fragmentation: internal and external, and they both have an impact on memory allocation and use.
