Paging space concepts

A paging space is a type of logical volume with allocated disk space that stores information, which is located in virtual memory but is currently not being accessed.

This logical volume has an attribute type equal to paging, and is usually simply referred to as paging space or swap space. When the amount of free RAM in the system is low, programs or data that have not been used recently are moved from memory to paging space to release memory for other activities.

Another type of paging space is available that can be accessed through a device that uses an NFS server for paging-space storage. For an NFS client to access this paging space, the NFS server must have a file created and exported to that client. The file size represents the paging space size for the client.

The amount of paging space required depends on the type of activities performed on the system. If paging space runs low, processes can be lost, and if paging space runs out, the system can panic. When a paging-space low condition is detected, define additional paging space.

The logical volume paging space is defined by making a new paging-space logical volume or by increasing the size of existing paging-space logical volumes. To increase the size of an NFS paging space, the file that resides on the server must be increased by the correct actions on the server.

The total space available to the system for paging is the sum of the sizes of all active paging-space logical volumes.