Computer Memory

If your server has multiple CPUs, your different CPUs may end up competing for the same bandwidth when accessing RAM – or instead, they may run completely independently it all depends on your setup.

If your server is set up as a shared-memory multicore, then your multiple CPUs will share the server memory with each other, thereby causing a bottleneck as they compete for the same bandwidth. On the other hand, if your server is set up as a distributed-memory multicore, then each CPU will access RAM independently. 

Overall, a high memory capacity means better multi-tasking for your computer, but multiple CPUs are dependent on the software you are using having been written to use more than one core. For programs that are not written to multiple CPUs, you could use one core to take care of certain tasks, and another core for other tasks.

Due to this, a server set up with multi-channel memory architecture could end up with a higher total memory bandwidth than you could have had with a single CPU.

What about standard PCs with more than 1 CPU?
Most regular computers operate with a single CPU. Even if that CPU is linked to other cores through hyper-threading, it’s still just one CPU in the actual computer’s motherboard. However, if you want to add more processing power to your computer without hyper-threading, then a motherboard with multiple CPU sockets can achieve this, even though systems with multiple CPUs are not very common among home computers – not even when it comes to high-powered gaming computers.

Generally speaking, the more CPUs a computer has, the more things it can do at once, and this will improve overall performance. The most efficient option to achieve this is a CPU with multiple cores – this is something that most modern computers have.

When installing new RAM, most often the biggest mistake that people make is not checking the capacity limits of their computer. Ensure that, even with multiple CPUs, you are not trying to add more RAM than your system can accept.

Installing the additional CPU opens up more upgrade slots for RAM use. However, it’s important to remember that your system’s performance will be maximised if you spread your modules in equal amounts across each CPU. It’s also critical to remember that you should not mix Unbuffered memory with registered memory, and you should not install DIMMs if the matching processor is not installed.

Super Micro Inc is a California-based hardware manufacturer that specialises in rack solutions, networking devices, blades, servers, workstations and server management software. The company came into being back in 1993, when Charles Liang, Sara Liu, and Wally Liaw got together with the common goal of producing high quality computer hardware in the global market.

Just 2 years ago, Super Micro was ranked within the 20 fastest growing enterprises by Fortune Magazine. Situated in Silicon Valley, the company has its own ‘Green Computing Park’ at its California HQ, as it has a keen environmental conscience, reflected in the construction of its flagship building.

Nearly Zero Net Energy Building
The building is a menagerie of energy saving technology and provides all but 2% of the energy required to run the building itself via extremely clever features that gather energy from sunlight and other natural renewable sources. Their ‘Keep it Green’ motto is part of the company DNA and is something they are rightly proud of.

Strong and Consistent Growth
Supermicro is experiencing something of a meteoric growth, having increased to 5 times its size in just over 5 years. It is presently the top IT firm in the world in terms of its expansion with annual revenues of $2bn and growing.

The company is a leader in the field of high end computer hardware, servers and IT research and development. As well as doing extremely well on green issues, this is backed up by world-class end to end solutions, big data, HPC, enterprise IT and cloud computing.

Satellite Offices
As well as their California office, Supermicro also has subsidiary offices in the Netherlands and Taiwan. This gives the corporation a global reach to retail its server systems to Europe and the far east through multiple reseller partners. The number of international markets the company is in is quite staggering, boasting as it does, over 800 customers in more than 100 countries.

Despite only being in existence for 25 years (a relatively short time when you consider its current day status), Supermicro offers a massive range of products, from full rack architecture to complete server management and there seems to quite literally be ‘no job too big’ for the company.

Future R&D
Supermicro is a serious innovator and it performs the vast majority of its R&D efforts internally, which ensures that the design teams involved are able to better communicate and collaborate on development, meaning a shorter wait for new, more efficient technology to hit the market.