Thrashing happens when a computer's operating system spends more time swapping data between RAM and disk storage than executing actual tasks. This leads to severe performance issues.
Why does it occur?
- Memory Overload: When the system runs more applications than the available RAM can handle, it resorts to virtual memory, leading to excessive swapping between RAM and disk.
- High Multiprogramming Level: Too many processes run simultaneously, causing constant context switching and memory swapping.
- Insufficient Memory Allocation: Not allocating enough memory to active processes can cause frequent page faults and swapping.
- Improper Page Replacement Algorithms: Inefficient algorithms can worsen the situation by not retaining frequently accessed pages in RAM.