Method and apparatus for managing kernel memory of data processing systems

A data processing system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a method of memory management, the method including
• determining whether data stored in a compressor pool exceeds a first predetermined threshold, the compressor pool being a fixed-size memory pool maintained in a kernel of an operating system, wherein the compressor pool stores a plurality of compressed memory pages, each memory page storing compressed data page that can be paged out to or paged in from a persistent storage device, wherein the compressed memory pages are associated with a plurality of processes, and
• automatically performing a memory consumption reduction action to reduce memory usage, the action including terminating at least one of the processes to reclaim a memory space occupied by the process or causing the process to reduce memory usage, in response to determining that the data stored in the compressor pool exceeds the first predetermined threshold.