In an approach for managing physical processor usage of a shared memory buffer, a processor receives a request for memory. A processor receives a request for memory from a process running on a physical processor. A processor determines whether the request for memory is less than or equal to a pre-determined threshold, wherein the pre-determined threshold is based on characteristics of a server on which the physical processor resides, needs of the server, and a frequency of requests of each memory size. Responsive to determining the request for memory is greater than the pre-determined threshold, a processor identifies a node on which the physical processor resides. A processor identifies a memory buffer of a set of memory buffers allocated to the node on which the physical processor resides. A processor allocates the memory buffer.