Because most systems access more code and data than can fit in physical memory as they run, physical memory is in essence a window into the code and data used over time. Windows' memory manager is responsible with populating memory with the code and data of active processes, device drivers, and the operating system itself. One of the most fundamental resources on a computer is physical memory. Pushing the Limits of Windows: USER and GDI Objects – Part 2 Pushing the Limits of Windows: USER and GDI Objects – Part 1 Pushing the Limits of Windows: Processes and Threads
Pushing the Limits of Windows: Paged and Nonpaged Pool Pushing the Limits of Windows: Virtual Memory Pushing the Limits of Windows: Physical Memory While they can stand on their own, they assume that you read them in order. Here’s the index of the entire Pushing the Limits series.
Knowing the limits of those resources and how to track their usage enables you to attribute resource usage to the applications that consume them, effectively size a system for a particular workload, and identify applications that leak resources. To be able to manage your Windows systems effectively you need to understand how Windows manages physical resources, such as CPUs and memory, as well as logical resources, such as virtual memory, handles, and window manager objects. This is the first blog post in a series I'll write over the coming months called Pushing the Limits of Windows that describes how Windows and applications use a particular resource, the licensing and implementation-derived limits of the resource, how to measure the resource’s usage, and how to diagnose leaks. First published on TechNet on Jul 21, 2008