InfoQ

News

256 Core SQL Server

Posted by Jonathan Allen on Nov 12, 2008 06:42 AM

Community
.NET
Topics
Performance & Scalability ,
SQL Server
Tags
SQL Server 2008

The current version of Windows has a hard limit on the number of logical processors it can support. For the sake of this discussion a computer has (CPUs X cores per CPU) logical processors; double that if using hyper-threading. This limit Windows actually supports is 32 logical processors on a 32-bit OS and 64 logical processors on a 64-bit OS. Most of these limits are subtle constraints based on data structures. For example, processor affinity, which determines which processors a thread can run on, is expressed as a 32- or 64-bit integer acting as a bitmask.

With SQL Server code named "Kilimanjaro" and Windows Server 2008 R2, the soft limit has been raised to 256 logical processors. The theoretical maximum is much higher, but Microsoft doesn’t want to support it until they have the ability to test it.

Related Sponsor

Red Gate Software makes ingeniously simple tools for over 500,000 SQL Server and .NET professionals.

No comments

Watch Thread Reply

Educational Content

Bindings, Platforms, and Innovation

This presentation focuses on the Internet and separating myth from fact, history from the future, and the mundane from the imaginative. Bob Frankston presents a vision of what could and should be.

  •  Jul 02, 2009,
  •  

Orchestrating Long Running Activities with JBoss / JBPM

This article explores the use of JBoss and jBPM to implement design solutions that effectively address the issue of orchestrating long running activities.

  •  Jul 01, 2009,
  •  

Neo4j - The Benefits of Graph Databases

This presentation covers the use of graph databases as an optimal solution for data that is difficult to fit in static tables, rapidly evolving data or data that has a lot of optional attributes.

Realistic about Risk: Software development with Real Options

This session introduces Real Options and shows how it can help in running your project. Real Options is a decision-making process that can be used to manage risk.

  •  Jun 30, 2009,
  •  

Communication Flexibility Using Bindings

This article discusses the use of bindings on services and references (including the instance of non-configured bindings) as the means to implement SCA communications in a Web and SOA environment.

  •  Jun 30, 2009,
  •  

Writing DSLs in Groovy

After a short introduction to DSLs, Scott Davis plays with the keyboard showing how to approach the creation of a DSL by typing working snippets of Groovy code that get executed.

Scaling Agile with C/ALM (Collaborative Application Lifecycle Management)

IBM Rational and InfoQ present, Scaling Agile with C/ALM, an eBook showing organizations how to become “finely tuned software delivery machines” by enabling team integration and scaling.

Concurrent Programming with Microsoft F#

Amanda Laucher presents a real life enterprise application written in F#. She shows actual code snippets, explaining design decisions and suggesting how to use some of the F# constructs.