In
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...
, resident set size (RSS) is the portion of memory occupied by a
process
A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic.
Things called a process include:
Business and management
*Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...
that is held in
main memory
Computer data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers.
The central processing unit (CPU) of a comput ...
(
RAM). The rest of the occupied memory exists in the
swap space
In computer operating systems, memory paging is a memory management scheme by which a computer stores and retrieves data from secondary storage for use in main memory. In this scheme, the operating system retrieves data from secondary storage ...
or
file system
In computing, file system or filesystem (often abbreviated to fs) is a method and data structure that the operating system uses to control how data is stored and retrieved. Without a file system, data placed in a storage medium would be one lar ...
, either because some parts of the occupied memory were
paged out, or because some parts of the executable were never loaded.
See also
*
Proportional set size (PSS)
*
Unique set size (USS)
*
Demand paging
In computer operating systems, demand paging (as opposed to anticipatory paging) is a method of virtual memory management. In a system that uses demand paging, the operating system copies a disk page into physical memory only if an attempt is m ...
*
Virtual memory
In computing, virtual memory, or virtual storage is a memory management technique that provides an "idealized abstraction of the storage resources that are actually available on a given machine" which "creates the illusion to users of a very ...
*
Working set
*
Working set size
References
External links
Simple resident set size limits LWN.net, August 10, 2004, by Jonathan Corbet
ELC: How much memory are applications really using? LWN.net, April 18, 2007, by Jonathan Corbet
Memory management
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