Exploring 64KB Base Pages with 4KB Kernels at Linux Summit
At the 2026 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory Management, and BPF Summit, experts discussed innovative approaches to enable processes to utilize 64KB page sizes even when the underlying kernel operates with standard 4KB pages. While some CPU architectures naturally support varying base-page sizes, offering performance benefits at the expense of higher memory consumption, others like x86 are more constrained. The summit featured two distinct sessions within the memory-management track addressing this challenge. The first session focused on a method allowing individual processes to define their own page sizes, thereby optimizing performance for specific workloads without requiring a system-wide change. The second session explored technical strategies for introducing 64KB page support specifically to x86 systems, which traditionally lack this flexibility. These discussions highlight ongoing efforts in the Linux community to enhance memory management efficiency and performance across diverse hardware architectures. By decoupling process-level page size requirements from kernel constraints, developers aim to achieve better performance outcomes for memory-intensive applications while maintaining compatibility with existing kernel structures.
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Exploring 64KB Base Pages with 4KB Kernels at Linux Summit
At the 2026 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory Management, and BPF Summit, experts discussed innovative approaches to enable processes to utilize 64KB page sizes even when the underlying kernel operates with standard 4KB pages. While some CPU architectures naturally support varying base-page sizes, offering performance benefits at the expense of higher memory consumption, others like x86 are more constrained. The summit featured two distinct sessions within the memory-management track addressing this challenge. The first session focused on a method allowing individual processes to define their own page sizes, thereby optimizing performance for specific workloads without requiring a system-wide change. The second session explored technical strategies for introducing 64KB page support specifically to x86 systems, which traditionally lack this flexibility. These discussions highlight ongoing efforts in the Linux community to enhance memory management efficiency and performance across diverse hardware architectures. By decoupling process-level page size requirements from kernel constraints, developers aim to achieve better performance outcomes for memory-intensive applications while maintaining compatibility with existing kernel structures.
LWN.net