HP ML530 ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies - Page 4

ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies figure 3. ProLiant ML530 G2 processor subsystem architecture smaller feature size Hyper-Threading (Jackson) technology The Intel Xeon Processor is built with a 130-nanometer (0.13-micron) process to allow higher frequencies and better performance. The manufacturing term 0.13 micron refers to the circuit (feature) size. Feature size is a major limiting factor in processing speed. The smaller the feature size, the more transistors are packed into the circuit. As the feature size decreases, the processing speed increases and the power requirements decrease. The 0.13-micron Xeon processor has a smaller feature size and faster circuitry than the 0.18-micron Intel Foster processor. Hyper-Threading technology lets a single processor execute two applications or processes at one time by handling instructions in parallel. A processor without Hyper-Threading technology has one architectural state and one set of execution resources on the processor core (see Figure 4 left). The architectural state is a set of registers that track program execution, and it is viewed by the operating system (OS) as one logical processor. The execution resources process instructions from the OS and applications one at a time in a logical order. During each clock cycle, a typical operation uses only a fraction of the execution resources while the rest are idle. HyperThreading technology addresses this low processor utilization by using as many execution resources as possible during each clock cycle. The OS views a processor with Hyper-Threading technology as if it were two logical processors-two architecture states sharing one set of execution resources. This allows the processor to simultaneously execute incoming instructions from different software applications by using out-of-order instruction scheduling to keep execution resources as busy as possible. As a result, a processor with Hyper-Threading technology can execute as many instructions as 1.5 processors. The result is a performance boost during multithreading and multi-tasking operations. The actual performance increase depends on the independent operations being executed and the execution resources required to complete the operation. 4