Abstract Open Source Memory Allocators on HP-UX

A number of Open Source Memory Allocators are available today. Each of these allocators uses a different approach to memory management and the effectiveness of each algorithm depends on the particular requirements of the application. Our main aim is to make the well known Open Source memory allocators available on HP-UX, thus providing the customer with a range of allocators to choose from for a particular application. This paper presents some of the issues faced while porting the chosen allocators. A comparative study of the performance of the allocators on the HP-UX platform is carried out in which the performance of each allocator is evaluated on the basis of its speed, scalability, fragmentation, false sharing and blow up behavior. Based on this study, we propose recommendations as to which allocators, if any, should be included with the HP-UX operating system. 1. Problem Statement Different applications have varying dynamic memory requirements. Many allocation algorithms exist but there is no single best allocator that provides good performance for all types of applications. HP-UX provides a single allocator that has been optimized for most types of applications. Our main aim is to make the well known Open Source memory allocators available on HP-UX. We then compare their performances with that of the HP-UX native allocator to provide recommendations on which of the ported allocators should be included as part of the HP-UX operating system. This would provide more flexibility to the customers in being able to choose the specific allocator which is best suited for their applications. We identified dlmalloc, ptmalloc, mtmalloc and Hoard [1] as good candidates for porting to the HP Precision Architecture (HPPA-RISC 2.0). These allocators were chosen because they have been shown to demonstrate good performance over a variety of applications. 2. Porting Porting allocators like dlmalloc, ptmalloc and mtmalloc involved resolving compiler issues such as undefined macros and nomenclature of the header files. Hoard being an allocator that uses machine specific features, some of the challenges that we faced while porting it are described below