Compaq ProLiant 3000 intraNetWare Symmetric Multiprocessing - Page 3
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ECG045/1097 INTEGRATION NOTE (cont.) 3... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The amount of information and the number of network applications on NetWare servers is increasing rapidly, as is the dependence on these servers. Resource-intensive services such as large databases, multimedia, imaging and document management are becoming more prominent. intraNetWare Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) allows you to add additional processors to a system without adding the overhead of an entire machine with its own hardware (disk drives and network cards) and software (operating system and disk drivers). An SMP server also allows a network administrator to centralize network services- file, print, communications and client/server applications- within one server, which also greatly reduces the number of servers that must be managed. As servers handle heavier workloads, the need for increased processing power grows, making an SMP solution very attractive. This document looks at the evolution of Compaq multiprocessing systems, focuses on the development of intraNetWare SMP, and provides basic installation instructions and tips for using intraNetWare SMP on your Compaq server. INTRODUCTION Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) denotes the use of multiple processors in an intraNetWare environment. Each processor has equal access to system resources, including system interrupts, memory, I/O bus and peripheral support. SMP provides more processing power, often at a lower cost than multiple single processor systems. The most common need for more processing power is in processor-intensive database environments. intraNetWare SMP allows you to add additional processors to a system without adding the overhead of an entire machine with its own hardware (disk drives and network cards) and software (operating system and disk drivers). An SMP server also allows a network administrator to centralize network services- file, print, communications and client/server applications- within one server, which also greatly reduces the number of servers that must be managed. This document looks at the evolution of Compaq multiprocessing systems, focuses on the development of intraNetWare SMP, and provides basic installation instructions and tips for using intraNetWare SMP on your Compaq server. NOTE: Compaq supports intranetWare SMP. Support for NetWare 4.10 SMP was discontinued with NPFC v3.04. WHY DO I NEED SMP? NetWare SMP offers the greatest potential returns in environments that require intensive processing power. The most common example of this can be found in application serving environments where large enterprise applications stress the capacity of the typical NetWare file server. Often in the past, the only option users could find to address the capacity requirements of these environments was to implement a new multiprocessing operating system. In most organizations, introducing a new operating system represented a costly decision requiring a significant financial commitment to develop resources to manage the new environment. However, with NetWare SMP, organizations have the option of leveraging the existing skills of their support staffs to implement a high-capacity enterprise application serving environment. Benchmark tests run in Compaq Integration Labs suggest that NetWare SMP can provide a highly scaleable platform for application serving environments.