Internal vs. External Fragmentation: Key Differences & Solutions in OS
Difference Between Internal and External Fragmentation in OS
In Operating Systems, efficient memory utilization is key to system speed. However, fragmentation often acts as a hurdle—a phenomenon where memory blocks are wasted, leaving the system unable to satisfy memory requests despite having free space.
What is Internal Fragmentation?
Internal fragmentation occurs when memory is allocated in fixed-sized partitions. If a process is smaller than the allocated memory block, the remaining space inside that block goes to waste. This space is "internal" to the partition and cannot be accessed by other processes.
Fig 1: Internal Fragmentation occurring in fixed-size memory blocks.
What is External Fragmentation?
External fragmentation happens when total free memory exists to satisfy a request, but it is non-contiguous (scattered). The available memory is broken into small "holes" by other running processes, making it impossible to fit a large new process into one continuous slot.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is internal fragmentation in OS?▼
What is external fragmentation in OS?▼
Internal vs external fragmentation: Key differences?▼
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