Nine memory management techniques for virtual servers

Though similar to memory overcommit in that this feature takes idle memory from VMs and allocates it to the VMs that need it, dynamic memory allocation is executed in a different way. Instead of assigning a specific amount of memory to VMs from the get-go, this feature allows VMs to take what they need, relying on the host to rebalance memory on a second-by-second basis. In Microsoft Hyper-V, extra memory is reserved as a buffer and you have different configuration options from which to choose. Admins can prioritize their VMs, set memory limits and set the amount of unused memory that should be left to existing VMs in the event they need it. Workloads that have predictable memory demands benefit most from dynamic memory allocation, specifically because of the way it's implemented.