1.6 Before We Begin...

     

1.6 Before We Begin

Before we get started with Chapter 2, Partitioned Servers, here is an invitation to explore some of the concepts alluded to in this first chapter. We have mentioned subjects such as RISC, VLIW, high-speed cache, TLB, 64-bit, and cc-NUMA, to name a few. We assume that you have a grounding in concepts that could be collectively known as architectural concepts . While it isn't necessary to be a computer scientist to be an advanced administrator, for some it is quite interesting to take these discussions a little further than this basic introduction. In Appendix A, I have expanded on some of these topics, including a historical perspective on CISC, RISC, VLIW, and other architectures including high-performance clustering technologies such as Flynn's Classifications of SISD, SIMD, MISD, and MIMD and a discussion on the differences and similarities between SMP and cc-NUMA. For some, this will be a stroll down memory lane, to your college days where you studied the basics of computer operations. To others, it may answer some questions that have formed the basis of an assumption that has bothered you for some time. Ask yourself these two questions:

  • What does it mean to implement a 64-bit address space?

  • Does the organization of a cache line have any impact on the performance of my system?

If you want to explore these questions or simply want to know how big an exabyte is, you might want to explore Appendix A: Getting to know your hardware. Alternately, you could explore the references at the end of this chapter to some excellent texts well worth considering.



HP-UX CSE(c) Official Study Guide and Desk Reference
HP-UX CSE(c) Official Study Guide and Desk Reference
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 434

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