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Server Farms
A server farm or server cluster is a collection of computer servers, usually maintained by an organization to supply server functionality far beyond the capability of a single machine. They often consist of thousands of computers which require a large amount of power to run and to keep cool. At the optimum performance level, a server farm has enormous financial and environmental costs. They often include backup servers that can take over the functions of primary servers that may fail. Server farms are typically collocated with the network switches and/or routers that enable communication between different parts of the cluster and the cluster's users. Server "farmers" typically mount computers, routers, power supplies and related electronics on 19-inch racks in a server room or data center. Applications Server farms are commonly used for cluster computing. Many modern supercomputers comprise giant server farms of high-speed processors connected by either Gigabit Ethernet or cu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3D Rendering
3D rendering is the 3D computer graphics process of converting 3D models into 2D images on a computer. 3D renders may include photorealistic effects or non-photorealistic styles. Rendering methods Rendering is the final process of creating the actual 2D image or animation from the prepared scene. This can be compared to taking a photo or filming the scene after the setup is finished in real life. Several different, and often specialized, rendering methods have been developed. These range from the distinctly non-realistic wireframe rendering through polygon-based rendering, to more advanced techniques such as: scanline rendering, ray tracing, or radiosity. Rendering may take from fractions of a second to days for a single image/frame. In general, different methods are better suited for either photorealistic rendering, or real-time rendering. Real-time Rendering for interactive media, such as games and simulations, is calculated and displayed in real time, at rates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transaction Processing Performance Council
In online transaction processing (OLTP), information systems typically facilitate and manage transaction-oriented applications. This is contrasted with online analytical processing. The term "transaction" can have two different meanings, both of which might apply: in the realm of computers or database transactions it denotes an atomic change of state, whereas in the realm of business or finance, the term typically denotes an exchange of economic entities (as used by, e.g., Transaction Processing Performance Council or commercial transactions.) OLTP may use transactions of the first type to record transactions of the second. OLTP has also been used to refer to processing in which the system responds immediately to user requests. An automated teller machine (ATM) for a bank is an example of a commercial transaction processing application. Online transaction processing applications have high throughput and are insert- or update-intensive in database management. These applications are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SPECpower
{{Short description, Type of computer benchmarking tool SPECpower_ssj2008 is the first industry-standard benchmark that evaluates the power and performance characteristics of volume server class computers. It is available from the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC). SPECpower_ssj2008 is SPEC's first attempt at defining server power measurement standards. It was introduced in December, 2007. Several SPEC member companies contributed to the development of the new power-performance measurement standard, including AMD, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP, Intel, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. See also * Average CPU power * EEMBC EnergyBench * IT energy management * Performance per watt In computing, performance per watt is a measure of the energy efficiency of a particular computer architecture or computer hardware. Literally, it measures the rate of computation that can be delivered by a computer for every watt of power consu ... References Official SPEC websi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EEMBC
EEMBC, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium, is a non-profit, member-funded organization formed in 1997, focused on the creation of standard benchmarks for the hardware and software used in embedded systems. The goal of its members is to make EEMBC benchmarks an industry standard for evaluating the capabilities of embedded processors, compilers, and the associated embedded system implementations, according to objective, clearly defined, application-based criteria. EEMBC members may contribute to the development of benchmarks, vote at various stages before public distribution, and accelerate testing of their platforms through early access to benchmarks and associated specifications. Most Popular Benchmark Working Groups In chronological order of development: AutoBench 1.1 - single- threaded code for automotive, industrial, and general-purpose applications Networking - single-threaded code associated with moving packets in networking applications. MultiBench - multi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Platform Virtualization
Hardware virtualization is the virtualization of computers as complete hardware platforms, certain logical abstractions of their componentry, or only the functionality required to run various operating systems. Virtualization hides the physical characteristics of a computing platform from the users, presenting instead an abstract computing platform. At its origins, the software that controlled virtualization was called a "control program", but the terms " hypervisor" or "virtual machine monitor" became preferred over time. Concept The term "virtualization" was coined in the 1960s to refer to a virtual machine (sometimes called "pseudo machine"), a term which itself dates from the experimental IBM M44/44X system. The creation and management of virtual machines has been called "platform virtualization", or "server virtualization", more recently. Platform virtualization is performed on a given hardware platform by ''host'' software (a ''control program''), which creates a sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clock Rate
In computing, the clock rate or clock speed typically refers to the frequency at which the clock generator of a processor can generate pulses, which are used to synchronize the operations of its components, and is used as an indicator of the processor's speed. It is measured in the SI unit of frequency hertz (Hz). The clock rate of the first generation of computers was measured in hertz or kilohertz (kHz), the first personal computers (PCs) to arrive throughout the 1970s and 1980s had clock rates measured in megahertz (MHz), and in the 21st century the speed of modern CPUs is commonly advertised in gigahertz (GHz). This metric is most useful when comparing processors within the same family, holding constant other features that may affect performance. Determining factors Binning Manufacturers of modern processors typically charge premium prices for processors that operate at higher clock rates, a practice called binning. For a given CPU, the clock rates are determined at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Availability
High availability (HA) is a characteristic of a system which aims to ensure an agreed level of operational performance, usually uptime, for a higher than normal period. Modernization has resulted in an increased reliance on these systems. For example, hospitals and data centers require high availability of their systems to perform routine daily activities. Availability refers to the ability of the user community to obtain a service or good, access the system, whether to submit new work, update or alter existing work, or collect the results of previous work. If a user cannot access the system, it is – from the user's point of view – ''unavailable''. Generally, the term '' downtime'' is used to refer to periods when a system is unavailable. Principles There are three principles of systems design in reliability engineering which can help achieve high availability. # Elimination of single points of failure. This means adding or building redundancy into the system so tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Performance Per Watt
In computing, performance per watt is a measure of the energy efficiency of a particular computer architecture or computer hardware. Literally, it measures the rate of computation that can be delivered by a computer for every watt of power consumed. This rate is typically measured by performance on the LINPACK benchmark when trying to compare between computing systems: an example using this is the Green500 list of supercomputers. Performance per watt has been suggested to be a more sustainable measure of computing than Moore’s Law. System designers building parallel computers, such as Google's hardware, pick CPUs based on their performance per watt of power, because the cost of powering the CPU outweighs the cost of the CPU itself. Spaceflight computers have hard limits on the maximum power available and also have hard requirements on minimum real-time performance. A ratio of processing speed to required electrical power is more useful than raw processing speed. D. J. Shi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Cooling
Computer cooling is required to remove the waste heat produced by computer components, to keep components within permissible operating temperature limits. Components that are susceptible to temporary malfunction or permanent failure if overheated include integrated circuits such as central processing units (CPUs), chipsets, graphics cards, and hard disk drives. Components are often designed to generate as little heat as possible, and computers and operating systems may be designed to reduce power consumption and consequent heating according to workload, but more heat may still be produced than can be removed without attention to cooling. Use of heatsinks cooled by airflow reduces the temperature rise produced by a given amount of heat. Attention to patterns of airflow can prevent the development of hotspots. Computer fans are widely used along with heatsink fans to reduce temperature by actively exhausting hot air. There are also more exotic cooling techniques, such as liq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Failover
Failover is switching to a redundant or standby computer server, system, hardware component or network upon the failure or abnormal termination of the previously active application, server, system, hardware component, or network in a computer network. Failover and switchover are essentially the same operation, except that failover is automatic and usually operates without warning, while switchover requires human intervention. Systems designers usually provide failover capability in servers, systems or networks requiring near-continuous availability and a high degree of reliability. At the server level, failover automation usually uses a "heartbeat" system that connects two servers, either through using a separate cable (for example, RS-232 serial ports/cable) or a network connection. As long as a regular "pulse" or "heartbeat" continues between the main server and the second server, the second server will not bring its systems online. There may also be a third "spare parts" s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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