swap space
- noun
- Specialized
:
espacio de intercambio
- When physical memory is full, the system can use a portion of the hard drive as swap space to continue running applications smoothly.
Examples
-
It is essential to allocate enough swap space to ensure that your computer does not slow down when multitasking with many programs.
-
But then the moment we set up our swap space, it tries to write to it and crashes immediately.
-
The swap space allows the operating system to transfer data between the RAM and the hard drive, helping to manage memory efficiently.
Synonyms
1
6.3
A file on the hard drive used as extra memory when RAM is full
1
4.2
The computer uses part of its hard disk as extra memory when RAM is full
Part of a computer's disk used like extra memory when the computer's memory is full
How Large
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'swap' (to exchange) and 'space' (an area or area reserved), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes an area used for swapping. However, the specific technical sense — that this is disk space reserved for virtual memory and page-swapping — requires domain knowledge and is not fully predictable from the constituents alone.
Etymology
Swap space comes from the idea of swap, meaning 'to exchange', and space, meaning an area on the disk. Imagine your computer's fast memory as a small desk and the disk area as a box where you put extra papers; when the desk is full you move papers to the box and later bring them back. That's why swap space means the disk area used as 'virtual memory' when physical memory is full.