Which OS for the 64bit Dual Core?
I was asked over on the Channel 9 blog about which operating system do I have running on the new 64bit, dual-core 4-ways.
Well...
As for the OS... Our servers are rebuilt with each lab engagement so it doesn't stay one OS very long. We custom build each lab engagement based on what the customer needs/wants.
Currently it is running Windows 2003 Server, Enterprise x64 Edition. However, these boxes can run either 32bit or 64bit versions of Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2003 Server
You should be careful when it comes to which OS you choose, as it is different how each OS "sees" the processors. This will have an effect on what operating systems will support.
For example, with dual core servers, Windows 2000 Server "sees" each core as a separate processor. Windows 2003 Server, on the other hand, sees each socket as a processor. That's because Windows 2003 Server was built with an "understanding" of dual core and hyperthreadable procs. This will make a big difference on which operating system you choose for your dual-core boxes, especially if they are 4-ways. For example, Windows 2000 will think that a 4-way dual core server is actually an 8-way. This makes it necessary to run either Windows 2000 Advanced Server or Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. This is because, Windows 2000 Server (standard) will only utilize 4 processors (in this case, 4 of the 8 cores).
(By the way, I wouldn't suggest choosing Windows 2000 from the simple standpoint that it is reaching the end of it's support life).
Here is more information on what OS's support:
| Number of processors supported | 2 | 4 | 8 | 32 | 64 |
| Windows 2003 Server Web Edition | |||||
| Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition | |||||
| Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition | |||||
| Windows 2003 Server Datacenter Edition | |||||
| Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition IA64 (Note 1) | |||||
| Windows 2003 Server Datacenter Edition IA64 (Note 1) | |||||
| Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition x64 (Note 2) | |||||
| Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition x64 (Note 2) | |||||
| Windows 2003 Server Datacenter Edition x64 (Note 2) | |||||
| Windows 2000 Server | |||||
| Windows 2000 Advanced Server | |||||
| Windows 2000 Datacenter Server |
| Memory Supported | 128 MB | 256 MB | 512 MB | 1 GB | 2 GB | 4 GB | 8 GB | 32 GB | 128 GB | 2 TB |
| Windows 2003 Server Web Edition | ||||||||||
| Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition | ||||||||||
| Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition | ||||||||||
| Windows 2003 Server Datacenter Edition | ||||||||||
| Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition IA64(Note 1) | ||||||||||
| Windows 2003 Server Datacenter Edition IA64(Note 1) | ||||||||||
| Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition x64(Note 2) | ||||||||||
| Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition x64(Note 2) | ||||||||||
| Windows 2003 Server Datacenter Edition x64(Note 2) | ||||||||||
| Windows 2000 Server | ||||||||||
| Windows 2000 Advanced Server | ||||||||||
| Windows 2000 Datacenter Server |
(Note 1) - Requires Intel Itanium based processors
(Note 2) - Requires AMD Opteron, AMD Athlon 64, Intel Xeon with Intel EM64T, or Intel Pentium with Intel EM64T processors
Hope this helps.
Ciao,
- Marcus
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