Question

// node v0.5.6 //

I assume the max buffer size that nodejs can allocate outside of the nodejs heap is limited by the amount of available system memory. I have several gigs of free memory though and I can’t seem to get even close to that limit without crashing node.

FATAL ERROR: JS Allocation failed – process out of memory

function bigArray(){
  // each ip could be 10 digits long, therefore,
  // 10 * (bcast-cur) = size of Buffer.  
  // does that also mean size in bytes? 
  var cur = 167772160;
  var bcast = 184549375;
  var addresses = new Buffer((bcast-cur)*10);
  var offset = 0;
  while (cur <= bcast){
    cur += 1;
    addresses.writeUInt32LE(cur,offset);
    offset+=10;
  }
  return addresses;
};
var ba = bigArray();

It crashes on line 235 of Buffer.js in the node library at this block:

if (this.length > Buffer.poolSize) {
  // Big buffer, just alloc one.
  this.parent = new SlowBuffer(this.length); //crash here
  this.offset = 0;

Answer 1

The error message that you are getting is a bit misleading unfortunately, but you have a buffer overflow error.

Your loop will run until cur == bcast, so the very last writeUInt32LE will write a number past the length of the buffer. Change your loop comparison to “cur < bcast”.