Taylors Own Work

Memory Management

• Memory management is the process of allocation and reallocation of system memory to optimise system performance. This is done by coordinating 'blocks' of system memory to different programs to stop them from interfering with one another. An OS can handle this by setting aside certain areas in which data can be shared. It does this by buffering to set aside memory for the temporary storage of data. This is done primarily for RAM but can be used for the CPU as well. When a user requests a program to be ran this is what happens:
• The program code is found on the storage drive
• A section of RAM is reserved for the program and space is allocated for the program's data
• The program code is copied from storage into the reserved space in the memory
• The CPU program counter is set to the memory location of the first instruction in the program, and execution begins

Peripheral Management

• Peripherals are devices separate from the OS which use their own code to form a protocol that enables them to communicate with other devices. Peripherals are in fact external, physical objects either input or output that could be a keyboard, mouse, monitor etc.
• Peripheral management is the software that allow the computer and OS to control and communicate with these devices

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