Editing Loadable kernel module (section)

== Disadvantages ==
One minor criticism of preferring a modular kernel over a static kernel is the so-called ''[[fragmentation (computing)|fragmentation]] penalty''.  The base kernel is always unpacked into real contiguous [[random-access memory|memory]] by its setup routines; thus, the base kernel code is never fragmented. Once the system is in a state in which modules may be inserted, for example once the [[filesystem]]s have been [[Mount (computing)|mount]]ed that contain the modules, it is likely that any new kernel code insertion will cause the kernel to become fragmented, thereby introducing a minor performance penalty by using more [[translation lookaside buffer|TLB]] entries, causing more TLB misses.{{citation needed|date=September 2007}}