Chapter 7

Page files

Abstract

This chapter covers page file concepts, monitoring, and proper sizing considerations.

Keywords

System

Page

Paging

Crash

Dump

Introduction

A page file (also known as a paging file) is an optional, hidden, system file on disk that can be used for backing system crash dumps and to extend the amount of system committed memory (also known as “virtual memory”) that a system can back. It also allows the system to remove infrequently access modified pages from physical memory to allow the system to better use physical memory for more frequently accessed pages.

This section of the book covers what page files are actually used for and proper sizing considerations.

Page file sizing

64-bit versions of Windows and Windows Server support significantly ...

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