Method, system, and computer program product for page replication in a

Abstract

A system and method for page replication in a non-uniform memory access system (NUMA). The system and method generates replicas for memory objects to reduce contention and improve overall system performance in NUMA multi-processor computer systems. Memory objects are used by the operating system to represent files, and comprise a state portion and a page cache portion. The state portion describes the state of the memory object. The page cache portion contains a set of physical memory pages that are currently being used to hold data belonging to the memory object. When a thread accesses data associated with a particular memory object for the first time, a check is made to determine if physical memory had already been allocated for the requested memory page. If a memory page is found, the memory object is interrogated to determine if the memory page is within a predetermined topological distance from the requesting node. If so, the memory page is mapped to the requesting process and it begins sharing the physical memory page. If the memory page is not within a predetermined topological distance from the requesting node, new physical memory is allocated and a replica is created that is located within the predetermined topological distance from the requesting node.