Fragmentation isa)Dividing the secondary memory into equal sized fragm...
Fragmentation is basically dividing main memory into fragments [smaller size parts] usually of the same size, it is of two types:
(i) External fragmentation
(ii) Internal fragmentation.
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Fragmentation isa)Dividing the secondary memory into equal sized fragm...
Fragmentation refers to the phenomenon of memory becoming divided into small, non-contiguous chunks, which can result in inefficiencies in memory usage. There are different types of fragmentation that can occur in computer memory.
Types of Fragmentation:
1. Internal Fragmentation:
- Internal fragmentation occurs when a process requests a certain amount of memory, but is allocated more than it actually needs.
- This results in the remaining memory being wasted, as it cannot be used by other processes.
- Internal fragmentation usually occurs in fixed-size memory allocation systems.
2. External Fragmentation:
- External fragmentation occurs when there is not enough contiguous memory to satisfy a process request, even though the total amount of free memory is sufficient.
- This can happen when memory is allocated and released in an unpredictable manner, leaving small gaps of unusable memory.
- External fragmentation usually occurs in dynamic memory allocation systems.
3. Paging Fragmentation:
- In a paged memory system, memory is divided into fixed-size pages, and a process's memory is allocated in non-contiguous pages.
- Paging fragmentation occurs when there are not enough contiguous free pages to satisfy a process request, resulting in unused fragments of pages.
4. Segmentation Fragmentation:
- In a segmented memory system, memory is divided into segments of varying sizes, and each segment is allocated to a different process.
- Segmentation fragmentation occurs when there are not enough contiguous free segments to satisfy a process request, resulting in unused fragments of segments.
Therefore, option B is correct as it refers to dividing the main memory into equal-size fragments, which can help prevent internal and external fragmentation in dynamic memory allocation systems.