Sun To Release 8-Core Niagara 2 Processor

An anonymous reader writes "Sun Microsystems is set to announce its eight-core Niagara 2 processor next week. Each core supports eight threads, so the chip handles 64 simultaneous threads, making it the centerpiece of Sun's "Throughput Computing" effort. Along with having more cores than the quads from Intel and AMD, the Niagara 2 have dual, on-chip 10G Ethernet ports with cryptographic capability. Sun doesn't get much processor press, because the chips are used only in its own CoolThreads servers, but Niagara 2 will probably be the fastest processor out there when it's released, other than perhaps the also little-known 4-GHz IBM Power 6."

Yes, but..

[aerthling]

Yes, but will it run Vista?

Will it be water-cooled? (nt)

[Rob Simpson]

(nt)

Re:yes but ...

[utnapistim]

... will a beowulf cluster of these run linux, or blend?

Freudian Processor?

[Anonymous Coward]

Am I the only person who read the headline as "Sun to Release 8-Core Viagra 2 Processor"?

Niagara

[Cctoide]

Niagara? I don't want to know what happens when one of these has to compute an integer overflow, do I?

Re:Yes, but..

[dbIII]

Yes, but will it run Vista?

It has a Vista emulation mode - move the power switch to OFF and you get something just as useful but more stable.

Re:Yes, but..

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but will it run Vista?

No, Vista requires 640 cores, which ought to be enough for anybody.

Re:Will it be water-cooled? (nt)

[morie]

Then why call then Niagara?

CURSES!

[Anonymous Coward]

How dare you correct your own mistakes!

I, and my fellow grammar Nazi overlords, were just about to rip your lousy post to shreds.

Re:CURSES!

[MysteriousPreacher]

If you were a real grammar nazi, you'd be able to point out all the other errors I made. I demand to see your badge!

Re:Yes, but..

[rbanffy]

No. Not only a Solaris/SPARC box is 100% Microsoft-free, it's 100% Microsoft-proof.

Re:Freudian Processor?

[ettlz]

Sounds like you've got serious uptime on the mind.

That's not fair!

[SpeedyGonz]

Only one silly meme per customer please.

Re:That's not fair!

[TheBOfN]

...In Soviet Russia Linux running Beowulf clusters blends You!

Threads Are the Work of the Devil

[MOBE2001]

Each core supports eight threads, so the chip handles 64 simultaneous threads, making it the centerpiece of Sun's "Throughput Computing" effort.

Wow! Only 64 threads, eh? That's the problem with threads, you can't have too many of them because switching from one thread to another is very expensive, cycle-wise. In other words, as long as threads remain the only multitasking mechanism used by the computer industry, super fast, fine-grained multiprocessing will remain a dream. It gets worse. There is another problem with threads that is even worse than this. Threads are inherently asynchronous. Until and unless the computer industry comes to its senses and realizes that asynchronous processing makes it impossible to implement programs with deterministic timing, we will continue to pay the heavy price of software unreliability. Switch to a non-algorithmic, signal-based, synchronous software model (with the supporting CPU architecture), and the problem will disappear. Threads suck! Period. One man's opinion.