Chapter 11. Memory Management

Memory allocation inside the kernel is not as easy as memory allocation outside the kernel. Many factors contribute to this. Primarily, the kernel simply lacks the luxuries enjoyed by user-space. Unlike user-space, the kernel is not always afforded the capability to easily allocate memory. For example, often the kernel cannot sleep and the kernel cannot easily deal with memory errors. Because of these limitations, and the need for a lightweight memory allocation scheme, getting hold of memory in the kernel is more complicated than in user-space. This is not to say that kernel memory allocations are difficult, however, as you'll see. Just different.

This chapter discusses the methods used to obtain memory inside the kernel. Before you can delve into the actual allocation interfaces, however, you need to understand how the kernel handles memory.