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When reading about PCs
and servers,
you'll often see the CPU
described by the number of bits
(e.g., 32-bit
or 64-bit),
here's a little info about what that means.
32-bit
refers to the number of bits
(the smallest unit of information on a machine) that
can be processed or transmitted in parallel, or the
number of bits
used for single element in a data
format.
The term, when used in conjunction with a microprocessor,
indicates the width of the registers;
a special high-speed storage area within the CPU.
A 32-bit
microprocessor
can process data
and memory
addresses that are represented by 32 bits.
64-bit,
therefore, refers to a processor
with registers
that store 64-bit
numbers. A generalization would be to suggest that
64-bit
architecture
would double the amount of data
a CPU
can process per clock
tick. Users would note a performance
increase because a 64-bit
CPU
can handle more memory
and larger files.
One of the most attractive features of 64-bit
processors
is the amount of memory
the system
can support. 64-bit
architecture
will allow systems
to address up to 1 terabyte
(1000GB)
of memory.
In today's 32-bit
desktop
systems,
you can have up to 4GB
of RAM
(provided your motherboard
that can handle that much RAM)
which is split between the applications
and the operating
system (OS).
The majority of desktop
computers
today don't even have 4GB
of memory
installed, and most small business and home desktop
computer
software
do not require that much memory
either. As more complex software
and 3-D
games become available however, we could actually
see this become a limitation, but for the average
home user that is very far down the road indeed.
Unfortunately, most benefits of a
64-bit
CPU
will go unnoticed without the key components of a
64-bit
operating
system and 64-bit
software
and drivers
which are able to take advantage of 64-bit
processor
features. Additionally for the average home computer
user, 32-bits
is more than adequate computing power.
When making the transition from 32-bit
to 64-bit
desktop
PCs,
users won't actually see web
browsers and word processing programs
run faster. Benefits of 64-bit
processors
would be seen with more demanding applications
such as video encoding, scientific research,
searching massive databases;
tasks where being able to load massive amounts of data
into the system's memory
is required.
While talk of 64-bit
architecture
may make one think this is a new technology, 64-bit
computing has been used over the past ten years in supercomputing
and database
management systems (DBMS). Many companies
and organizations with the need to access huge
amounts of data
have already made the transition to using 64-bit
servers,
since a 64-bit
server
can support a greater number of larger files
and could effectively load large enterprise databases
to into memory
allowing for faster searches and data
retrieval. Additionally, using a 64-bit
server
means organizations can support more simultaneous
users on each server
potentially removing the need for extra hardware as
one 64-bit
server
could replace the use of several 32-bit
servers
on a network.
It is in scientific and data
management industries where the limitations of the 4GB
memory
of a 32-bit
system
have been reached and the need for 64-bit
processing becomes apparent. Some of the major software
developers in the database
management system business, such as Oracle
and SQL
Server, to name just two, offer 64-bit
versions of their database
management systems.
While 64-bit
servers
were once used only by those organizations with
massive amounts of data
and big budgets, we do see in the near future 64-bit
enabled systems
hitting the mainstream market. It is only a matter
of time until 64-bit
software
and retail OS
packages become available thereby making 64-bit
computing an attractive solution for business and
home computing needs. |