A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for managing real memory. In response to a request for a page to be moved into real memory, a contiguous range of real memory is reserved for the page corresponding to a contiguous virtual memory range to form a reservation within a plurality of reservations for the real memory. This reservation enables efficient promotion of pages to a larger page size. The page only occupies a portion of the contiguous range of real memory for the reservation. In response to a need for real memory, a selected reservation is released within the plurality of reservations based on an age of the selected reservation within the plurality of reservations.