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2010 (0x7DA) - The Year of Dump Analysis
2011 (0x7DB) - 2020 (0x7E4) The Debugging Decade

The main problem of memory dump analysis is the lack of consistent kernel virtual memory dumps saved on demand without system halt. LiveKd and Win32DD tools are physical memory dumpers only and do not save kernel memory dump files. These dumps are known to be inconsistent and I elaborated on different schemes to save memory consistently, for example, 1) to partition physical memory into 2 parts from OS boot time, 2) when memory snapshot is needed raise IRQL on all processors, 3) pump memory contents from one part to another (with compression if necessary, in such partition the reserved part of physical memory could be smaller), 4) lower IRQL on all processors to resume normal OS functions and 5) save consistent memory snapshot from reserved part of physical memory to a dump file in the background. The crucial feature of osmosis is its bipartite division and membrane. Hence the name of the project: 

OSMOSIS

Optimally Saved Memory of System Internal State

Optimally Saved Memory (of) Operating System Internal State

 

This is, of course, for OS running on physical machines, virtual machine case is much simpler in theory because we can freeze the whole VM or save its snapshot and later run an external tool or file converter on it.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

           

Announcements

Coming Soon:

Debugging Notebook: Essential Concepts, WinDbg Commands and Tools

Crash Dump Analysis for System Administrators and Support Engineers

New Magazines:

Debugged! MZ/PE: MagaZine for/from Practicing Engineers

New Books:

Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 3

First Fault Software Problem Solving: A Guide for Engineers, Managers and Users

x64 Windows Debugging: Practical Foundations

Also available:

Windows Debugging: Practical Foundations

DLL List Landscape: The Art from Computer Memory Space

Dumps, Bugs and Debugging Forensics: The Adventures of Dr. Debugalov

WinDbg: A Reference Poster and Learning Cards

Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 2

Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 1

New Children's Book:

Baby Turing

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 11:47 am and is filed under Announcements, Crash Dump Analysis, Debugging, Software Architecture, Software Technical Support, Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.