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September 18, 2006
Multi CPU computers
I was just reading about 4 core computer processors. This means that a single processor in your computer actually contains 4 of them, hidden inside.
The MacPro machines, for example, could have two processors with 4 cores each for a total of 8.
The operating systems see this single processor as 4 processors. This means it can delegate work to all four of them. The article in question was Mac related and mentionned how software will have to be rewritten to take advantage of this.
Well... not for us. Since the very beginning, Marratech has been using the Java programming language heavily. The Java language has great support for threads, i.e. an independant part of the software than can run in parallel to other parts of the software. This is probably because Sun, the creator of Java, has been selling multi processor systems for a very long time.
Programming in threads can be tricky, as timing between the different independant components must be perfect for information to be transferred between one thread to the others that require the info. Testing and provoking failures to replicate issues requires all the right conditions in place... at the right time.
No, I do not want to get into a course on threads, but I want to mention that both our client and server software build heavily on threads. Video encoding, voice, grabbing, network, encryption all are run within threads.
These Java threads can be sent to the many CPUs. Imagine the possibilities when 8 cpu can work together for video encoding and rendering... the possibilities are so large that one wonders what the Tandberg and Polycoms of this world will do with their dedicated hardware? They will be overwhelmed by the capabilities of these machines.
Imagine:
4 CPUs working on H.264 for 40 simultaneous participants, 1 CPU for audio, whiteboard, and the rest and then of course, 3 CPUs for Windows Vista and Outlook 2007. :-)
On the server side, expect even more cores per CPU.
To me, it is clear. Software-based rich collaboration will be everywhere in 5 years. No one will want to manage two systems when one can do everything better.
Where will the Video Conf equipment be?
Posted by Serge Lachapelle at September 18, 2006 02:14 PM
Comments
Imagine Marratech Manager running on a Sun T2000 with 8 cores, 32 hardware threads, and Solaris 10 with DTRACE for tuning :)
Posted by: robert at September 29, 2006 10:44 AM