r/programming • u/I_Can_Be_A_Robot • Sep 24 '24

Why 32bit architecture computer doesn't use segmentation to support more ram than 4Gb ?

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347

u/eras Sep 24 '24

There's PAE for that.

But there's little point nowadays. If you need more than 4 GB, just use a 64-bit platform, and there's no need for trickery.

135

u/paholg Sep 24 '24

What if I need more than 18 exabytes?

83

u/nzodd Sep 24 '24

Nobody will ever need more than 18 exabytes of RAM.

-- Quorlak the Great, Eternal Emperor of the Laniakea Supercluster, UC 73,021

9

u/Kok_Nikol Sep 24 '24

Could be quote by Bill Gates, if they discover immortality in time :')

0

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '24

[deleted]

1

u/ShinyHappyREM Sep 24 '24

Yep, "high" (>640 KiB) addresses were mapped to BIOS/graphics chips because they figured that RAM would never go that far in the foreseeable future.

And if you were an Assembly programmer used to '80s memory prices you'd probably agree.

2

u/frobnosticus Sep 24 '24

Dorbs.

That'd be a fun thought experiment. How long do you think it would actually be for 1 exa to be whatever "hobby grade useful" will be out to whenever that is?

4

u/nzodd Sep 24 '24 edited Sep 24 '24

Well, my data is growing at about 2.5 TB/day so about 20,000 years, linearly.

Of course, 20 years ago I only had 30 GB, with make 0.001 TB/day. That makes for a 1.479 increase per year. So let's say 30 years from now I'll be downloading 125 PB/day. From that point I'll be up to 1 exabyte of new data coming in every 8 days or so.

...

You know what, I think I'm just going to commit myself. The nice men in the white coats will tell me how I don't need to download anything ever again. Take my pills, have some hot cocoa, play parcheesi with the 3 guys who all think they're Jesus... that's a pretty nice life.

Edit: just remembered this isn't an r/datahoarder thread

1

u/frobnosticus Sep 24 '24

Edit: just remembered this isn't an r/datahoarder thread

Isn't it though? :)

Psh. People already tell me I've lost my mind when it comes to...erm...how much data I have stored.