void *kcalloc(size_t n, size_t size, unsigned int __nocast gfp_flags);
This function will allocate an array of n items, and will zero the entire array before returning it to the caller. Pekka's patch converted a number of kmalloc()/memset() pairs over to kcalloc(), but that patch drew a complaint from Andrew Morton:
Very few callers actually need to allocate an array of items, so the extra argument is unneeded in most cases. Each instance of that argument adds a bit to the size of the kernel, and, over time, that space adds up. The solution was to create yet another allocation function:
void *kzalloc(size_t size, unsigned int __nocast gfp_flags);
This function returns a single, zeroed item. It has been added to -mm, with its appearance in the mainline likely to happen for 2.6.14.
kzalloc zeroes the memory before returninga pointer
kcalloc allocates memory for an array, itis not a replacement for kcalloc :
void *kcalloc(size_t n, size_t size, gfp_tflags)
vmalloc is the same as kmalloc, except itallocates memory that is only virtually contiguous. The underling physicalmemory can be discontiguous.
So kmalloc can eventually be replaced by acall to kzalloc, but it is unlikely to solve your problem