Memory allocator for a multiprocessor computer system

Methods for dynamically allocating memory in a multiprocessor computer system such as a non-uniform memory access (NUMA) machine having distributed shared memory. The methods include allocating memory by specified node, memory class, or memory pool in response to requests by the system (kernel memory allocation) or a user (application memory allocation). Through these methods memory is allocated more efficiently in a NUMA machine. For example, allocating memory on a specified node in a NUMA machine, such as the same node on which a process requiring the memory is running, reduces memory access time. Allocating memory from a specified memory class allows device drivers with restricted DMA ranges to operate with dynamically allocated memory. Other benefits of these methods include minimizing expensive remote-memory accesses using a distributed reference count mechanism and lock-free cache access.