diff -r 1d8b01d6889f -r 40aaf1161841 src/mem/physical.hh
--- a/src/mem/physical.hh	Mon Feb 09 09:09:20 2015 +0000
+++ b/src/mem/physical.hh	Mon Feb 09 14:32:49 2015 +0000
@@ -85,6 +85,9 @@
     // The total memory size
     uint64_t size;
 
+    // Let the user choose if we reserve swap space when calling mmap
+    const bool mmapUsingNoReserve;
+
     // The physical memory used to provide the memory in the simulated
     // system
     std::vector<std::pair<AddrRange, uint8_t*>> backingStore;
@@ -112,7 +115,8 @@
      * Create a physical memory object, wrapping a number of memories.
      */
     PhysicalMemory(const std::string& _name,
-                   const std::vector<AbstractMemory*>& _memories);
+                   const std::vector<AbstractMemory*>& _memories,
+                   bool mmap_using_noreserve);
 
     /**
      * Unmap all the backing store we have used.
diff -r 1d8b01d6889f -r 40aaf1161841 src/mem/physical.cc
--- a/src/mem/physical.cc	Mon Feb 09 09:09:20 2015 +0000
+++ b/src/mem/physical.cc	Mon Feb 09 14:32:49 2015 +0000
@@ -56,12 +56,27 @@
 #include "mem/abstract_mem.hh"
 #include "mem/physical.hh"
 
+/**
+ * On Linux, MAP_NORESERVE allow us to simulate a very large memory
+ * without committing to actually providing the swap space on the
+ * host. On OSX the MAP_NORESERVE flag does not exist, so simply make
+ * it 0.
+ */
+#if defined(__APPLE__)
+#define MAP_NORESERVE 0
+#endif
+
 using namespace std;
 
 PhysicalMemory::PhysicalMemory(const string& _name,
-                               const vector<AbstractMemory*>& _memories) :
-    _name(_name), rangeCache(addrMap.end()), size(0)
+                               const vector<AbstractMemory*>& _memories,
+                               bool mmap_using_noreserve) :
+    _name(_name), rangeCache(addrMap.end()), size(0),
+    mmapUsingNoReserve(mmap_using_noreserve)
 {
+    if (mmap_using_noreserve)
+        warn("Not reserving swap space. May cause SIGSEGV on actual usage\n");
+
     // add the memories from the system to the address map as
     // appropriate
     for (const auto& m : _memories) {
@@ -148,6 +163,13 @@
     DPRINTF(AddrRanges, "Creating backing store for range %s with size %d\n",
             range.to_string(), range.size());
     int map_flags = MAP_ANON | MAP_PRIVATE;
+
+    // to be able to simulate very large memories, the user can opt to
+    // pass noreserve to mmap
+    if (mmapUsingNoReserve) {
+        map_flags |= MAP_NORESERVE;
+    }
+
     uint8_t* pmem = (uint8_t*) mmap(NULL, range.size(),
                                     PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
                                     map_flags, -1, 0);
diff -r 1d8b01d6889f -r 40aaf1161841 src/sim/System.py
--- a/src/sim/System.py	Mon Feb 09 09:09:20 2015 +0000
+++ b/src/sim/System.py	Mon Feb 09 14:32:49 2015 +0000
@@ -59,6 +59,13 @@
                                           "All memories in the system")
     mem_mode = Param.MemoryMode('atomic', "The mode the memory system is in")
 
+    # When reserving memory on the host, we have the option of
+    # reserving swap space or not (by passing MAP_NORESERVE to
+    # mmap). By enabling this flag, we accomodate cases where a large
+    # (but sparse) memory is simulated.
+    mmap_using_noreserve = Param.Bool(False, "mmap the backing store " \
+                                          "without reserving swap")
+
     # The memory ranges are to be populated when creating the system
     # such that these can be passed from the I/O subsystem through an
     # I/O bridge or cache
diff -r 1d8b01d6889f -r 40aaf1161841 src/sim/system.cc
--- a/src/sim/system.cc	Mon Feb 09 09:09:20 2015 +0000
+++ b/src/sim/system.cc	Mon Feb 09 14:32:49 2015 +0000
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
       loadAddrMask(p->load_addr_mask),
       loadAddrOffset(p->load_offset),
       nextPID(0),
-      physmem(name() + ".physmem", p->memories),
+      physmem(name() + ".physmem", p->memories, p->mmap_using_noreserve),
       memoryMode(p->mem_mode),
       _cacheLineSize(p->cache_line_size),
       workItemsBegin(0),