virtual storage


noun Computers.

a system whereby addressable memory is extended beyond main storage through the use of secondary storage managed by system software in such a way that programs can treat all of the designated storage as addressable main storage.
Also called virtual memory.
Compare real storage.

Origin of virtual storage

First recorded in 1970–75

British Dictionary definitions for virtual memory

virtual storage

virtual memory


noun

a computer system in which the size of the memory is effectively increased by automatically transferring sections of a program from a large capacity backing store, such as a disk, into the smaller core memory as they are required

Scientific definitions for virtual memory

virtual memory
[ vûrchōō-əl ]

A memory management system in a computer that temporarily stores inactive parts of the content RAM on a disk, restoring it to RAM when quick access to it is needed. This allows software to operate as though the computer has more RAM than it actually does.