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Papa Assane Fall

Friday, December 5th, 2025

Linux as a Microkernel: The Case of Memory Management

Abstract:
Main memory is a critical resource in data centers, due to its major impact on application performance and server costs. However, Linux’s memory management system, designed to be general-purpose, is not always optimal for diverse workload requirements. We introduce USM, a framework for the rapid development of memory management policies in Linux. USM adopts a microkernel-inspired design, enabling MM policies to run in userspace. We demonstrate the flexibility of USM by implementing a variety of MM policies, and evaluate its performance against state-of-the-art solutions.

Date and place

Friday, December 5th at 13:30
Auditorium of IMAG Building
online

Jury members

Superviseurs:
Alain Tchana
professeur des universités, Grenoble INP - UGA - LIG - Inria
Renaud Lachaize
maître de conférences, Grenoble INP - UGA - LIG - Inria
Jean-Perre Lozi
chargé de recherche, Inria Paris
 
Membres du jury:
Daniel Hagimont
professeur des universités, INP - ENSEEIHT, rapporteur
Gaël Thomas
directeur de recherche, Inria Saclay, rapporteur
Brice Ekana Apah
maître de conférences, Université de Rennes, examinateur
Redha Gouicem
maître de conférences, Université de RWTH AACHEN, examinateur
Noël De Palma
directeur de recherche, UGA - LIG, président

Submitted on December 4, 2025

Updated on December 4, 2025