Sorting in a paging environment

Abstract

This sorting study was part of an extensive measurement project undertaken on the M44/44X, an experimental paging system which was conceived and implemented at IBM Research in order to explore the virtual machine concept. The study was concerned with the implementation of sorting procedures in the context of the dynamic paging environment characteristic of virtual memory machines. Descriptions of the experimental sort programs and analysis of the performance measurement results obtained for them are presented. The insight gained from the experimental effort is used to arrive at a set of broad guidelines for writing sort programs for a paging environment.