Heap fragmentation when using byte arrays

Question

I have a C# 4.0 application (single producer/single consumer) which transfers huge amount of data in chunks. Although there\'s no new memory allocation I run out of memory after

Answer 1

How long are your byte[] array? Do they fall into the small object or large object heap? If you experience memory fragmentation, I would say they fall into the LOH.

You should therefore reuse the same byte arrays (use a pool) or use smaller chunks. The LOH is never compacted, so it can become quite fragmented. Sadly there is no way around this. (Apart from knowing this limitation and avoiding it)