Summary
- Because of their exaggerated workload, server software typically accommodates multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs) as a load balancing and fault tolerance strategy.
- There are four main components in a CPU:
- Memory Cache —Memory caches can internal or external to the CPU die.
- Control Unit (CU)
- Register
- Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
- Memory Cache —Memory caches can internal or external to the CPU die.
- A CPU uses individual memory addresses to isolate pieces of data and find specific data or instructions.
- From RAM, the data travels to the CPU's control unit, which decodes the data, interprets it, and then implements the instructions.
- The decoded data is sent from the CPU's control unit to its Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), where calculations and comparisons are made.
- Processor subsystems are designed to be scalable, or accommodate more than one processor.
- Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) has made servers more powerful than in previous generations.
- Multithreading is the ability for multiple tasks to be processed simultaneously.
- The advantages to 64-bit servers processors are:
- More direct-addressable memory space
- Enhanced scalability
- Faster buses that can move data faster.
