The memory administration perform keeps observe of the status of each memory location, both allocated or free. It determines how memory is allocated amongst competing processes, deciding which gets memory, after they obtain it, and how much they are allowed. When memory is allotted it determines which memory places will likely be assigned. It tracks when memory is freed or unallocated and updates the standing. This is distinct from application memory management, which is how a process manages the memory assigned to it by the operating system. Single allocation is the only memory administration method. All the computer's memory, normally with the exception of a small portion reserved for the working system, is offered to a single application. MS-DOS is an example of a system that allocates memory in this way. An embedded system operating a single application might also use this system. A system using single contiguous allocation should still multitask by swapping the contents of memory to change among users.

Early variations of the MUSIC working system used this technique. Partitioned allocation divides main memory into multiple memory partitions, usually contiguous areas of memory. Each partition would possibly comprise all the knowledge for a selected job or process. Memory management consists of allocating a partition to a job when it begins and unallocating it when the job ends. Partitioned allocation normally requires some hardware assist to prevent the jobs from interfering with each other or with the working system. The IBM System/360 makes use of a lock-and-key approach. The UNIVAC 1108, PDP-6 and PDP-10, and GE-600 collection use base and bounds registers to point the ranges of accessible memory. Partitions could also be both static, that is defined at Initial Program Load (IPL) or boot time, or by the computer operator, or dynamic, that is, routinely created for a particular job. IBM System/360 Operating System Multiprogramming with a set Variety of Tasks (MFT) is an example of static partitioning, and Multiprogramming with a Variable Variety of Duties (MVT) is an instance of dynamic.

MVT and successors use the term area to distinguish dynamic partitions from static ones in different programs. Partitions may be relocatable with base registers, as in the UNIVAC 1108, PDP-6 and PDP-10, and GE-600 sequence. Relocatable partitions are in a position to be compacted to provide bigger chunks of contiguous bodily memory. Compaction moves "in-use" areas of memory to eliminate "holes" or unused areas of memory attributable to process termination in an effort to create bigger contiguous free areas. Some programs enable partitions to be swapped out to secondary storage to free extra memory. Early variations of IBM's Time Sharing Option (TSO) swapped customers in and out of time-sharing partitions. Paged allocation divides the computer's major memory into fastened-size units known as web page frames, and the program's digital address space into pages of the same measurement. The hardware memory administration unit maps pages to frames. The physical memory will be allocated on a page foundation while the deal with area seems contiguous. Usually, Memory Wave Workshop with paged memory management, each job runs in its personal deal with space.

Nonetheless, there are some single address space operating methods that run all processes within a single handle house, reminiscent of IBM i, which runs all processes within a big tackle area, and IBM OS/VS1 and OS/VS2 (SVS), which ran all jobs in a single 16MiB digital deal with house. Paged memory will be demand-paged when the system can move pages as required between major and secondary memory. 165 Segments are areas of memory that normally correspond to a logical grouping of data corresponding to a code procedure or a knowledge array. Segmentation permits better access safety than different schemes because memory references are relative to a selected phase and the hardware won't permit the appliance to reference Memory Wave Workshop not outlined for that section. It is feasible to implement segmentation with or with out paging. With out paging assist the phase is the bodily unit swapped in and out of memory if required. With paging assist the pages are usually the unit of swapping and segmentation solely adds an additional degree of safety.