Address spaceIn computing, an address space defines a range of discrete addresses, each of which may correspond to a network host, a peripheral device, a disk sector, a physical memory location, a virtual memory location, or another logical or physical entity. Address spaces are created by combining enough uniquely identified qualifiers to make an address unambiguous within the address space.
Virtual memoryVirtual memory combines active RAM and inactive memory on DASD to form a large range of contiguous addresses.In computing, virtual memory, or virtual storage, is enabled by a memory management technique that provides an "idealized abstraction of the storage resources that are actually available on a given machine" which "creates the illusion to users of a very large (main) memory".
Process isolationProcess isolation is a set of different hardware and software technologies designed to protect each process from other processes on the operating system. It does so by preventing process A from writing to process B. Security is easier to enforce by disallowing inter-process memory access, in contrast with architectures in which any process can write to any memory in any other process.
Operating systemAn operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also include accounting software for cost allocation of processor time, mass storage, peripherals, and other resources.Memory-mapped fileA memory-mapped file is a segment of virtual memory that has been assigned a direct byte-for-byte correspondence with some portion of a file or file-like resource. This resource is typically a file that is physically present on disk, but can also be a device, shared memory object, or other resource that an operating system can reference through a file descriptor.
Physical addressIn computing, a physical address (also real address, or binary address), is a memory address that is represented in the form of a binary number on the address bus circuitry in order to enable the data bus to access a particular item (byte, word, etc.) of main memory, or a register of memory-mapped I/O device.
64-bit computingIn computer architecture, 64-bitintegers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing units (CPU) and arithmetic logic units (ALU) are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A computer that uses such a processor is a 64-bit computer. From the software perspective, 64-bit computing means the use of machine code with 64-bit virtual memory addresses.
ComputingComputing is any goal-oriented activity that requires, benefits from, or creates computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both hardware and software. Computing encompasses scientific, engineering, mathematical, technological, and social aspects.
ByteThe byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit of memory in many computer architectures. To disambiguate arbitrarily sized bytes from the common 8-bit definition, network protocol documents such as the Internet Protocol (RFC791) refer to an 8-bit byte as an octet.
Instruction set architectureAn instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model that defines the programmable interface of the CPU of a computer, defining how software interacts with hardware. A device (i.e. CPU) that interprets instructions described by an ISA is an implementation of that ISA. Generally, the same ISA is used for a family of related CPU devices.
32-bit computing32-bit computing refers to computer architectures with a processor, memory, and other major components that operate on 32-bit units of data. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculations more efficiently and process more data per clock cycle. From the 1980s to about 2006, typical 32-bit personal computers had a 32-bit address bus, permitting up to 4 GiB of RAM to be accessed.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.