In my last post, where I analyzed the problems caused by memory fragmentation on a Linux server, I said very little about memory fragmentation itself. I wanted to tell a story, so I had to dial down the technical stuff. But now that the story is told, I figured I should make a more technical post on the subject. I think it might be useful for many Linux DBAs or SAs, since there is not enough awareness of this problem within the Linux community. So if your system is experiencing cryptic performance and stability issues, keep reading, your problem may well be stemming from memory fragmentation.
Continue reading “Memory fragmentation: the silent performance killer”