Physical Memory

Definitions

1. The actual RAM chips installed in a machine, addressed by physical addresses that the memory controller uses to read and write data. The OS kernel maps virtual addresses used by processes to physical memory frames via page tables, and can overcommit by swapping pages to disk.

   In plain English: The real, tangible memory hardware in your computer — the actual chips that temporarily store data while the machine is running.

   Example: "The container keeps getting OOM-killed because it's limited to 512 MB of physical memory and the JVM heap alone wants 480 MB."

Related Terms

• Space Complexity
• UEFI
• DMA
• PCB
• Register
• CPU Cache
• Page Cache
• ROM
• Shared Library