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Maximizing Multicore Servers (continued)

Besting the Beast
To maximize the power of multicore server deployments, Jay Bretzmann, Manager of Product Marketing at IBM Systems in Research Triangle Park, N.C., offers the following advice:

• Break up performance bottlenecks Look for an architecture that can maintain a balance in system resources to avoid performance bottlenecks. IBM's Enterprise X-Architecture offers customers the ability to independently scale processors, memory and I/O resources which helps it adapt to scalable software workloads like database processing, enterprise applications (SAP, Oracle, etc.) and server consolidation. IBM's x3650 2P server also offers more memory capacity than other vendors.
• Go virtual when necessary When application software doesn't support more than four concurrent threads of execution, adopt server virtualization technology in production environments in order to harness the power of the cores.
• Consolidate databases Use software like Microsoft SQL Server 2005 offering database consolidation features to host multiple smaller, underutilized databases on one larger server and one SQL Server license.
• Synchronize the software To ensure peak performance, determine that basic operating system and application software are written to take advantage of the multiple cores.

The bottom line: Multicore server deployments can pack a wallop in attacking some of the more bedeviling enterprise tasks, but how much of a wallop depends on how well you aim the punch. "You will definitely see improvement by deploying multicore chips as opposed to the previous generation single core chips," says Stirling. "But, as in any capacity management exercise, you should map your load to the actual performance of your application on the processors in question, not the marketing hype."

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