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Chapter 2. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Performance Features
2.1. 64-Bit Support
- Huge pages and transparent huge pages
- Non-Uniform Memory Access improvements
The implementation of huge pages in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 allows the system to manage memory use efficiently across different memory workloads. Huge pages dynamically utilize 2 MB pages compared to the standard 4 KB page size, allowing applications to scale well while processing gigabytes and even terabytes of memory.
Many new systems now support Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA). NUMA simplifies the design and creation of hardware for large systems; however, it also adds a layer of complexity to application development. For example, NUMA implements both local and remote memory, where remote memory can take several times longer to access than local memory. This feature has performance implications for operating systems and applications, and should be configured carefully.