Due to limitations in the 32-bit address space of the x86 architecture, a kernel with default configuration can only support up to 896mb RAM. If your system has more memory, only the first 896mb will be visible, unless you enable high memory support.
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Note: This limitation is specific to the x86 (IA32) architecture. Other architectures naturally support large amounts of memory, with no configuration tweaks required. |
High memory support is not enabled by default, because it introduces a small system overhead. Do not be distracted by this, the overhead is insignificant when compared to the performance increase of having more memory available!
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Code Listing 3.7: Enabling high memory support on x86 |
Processor type and features ---> |