Microsoft Clarifies Multicore Processor Software Licensing
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Microsoft gave some encouraging news for IT managers considering future server hardware based on multicore processors. Both Intel and AMD are developing multicore chips, which pack two processors onto a single
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TechWeb - The software supports a number of hardware platforms based on the ARM7 and ARM9 processor cores.
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Intel began to downplay so-called clock speed of processors within the past year, and other chipmakers followed suit, focusing on other advances such as dual-core, which essentially puts two
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Microsoft on Wednesday revealed that it has made its software development environment for small, embedded processors available for chipmaker Analog Devices' Blackfin platform. via EETimes
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New BladeSymphony models can be linked into multiprocessor systems or subdivided with virtualization.
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SOFTWARE MEGALITH Microsoft said it will not charge its customers extra for using its software on hardware platforms with dual-core processors.
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Chip maker offers few details about its plans for dual-core server processors.
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SAN JOSE, CALIF. - Everywhere you look at the Fall Processor Forum, there&#39;s another chip with more than one core. At this annual industry conference where chip companies discuss the designs they&#39;re working
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Low-end love Oracle has tossed customers a Microsoft-like bone by loosening up its software licensing restrictions for low-end servers running on multi-core chips.â¦
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SANTA CLARA, CALIF. -- Noting two evolving areas of software licensing, Microsoft is pondering how to license when multiple instances of an application are run on a single computer, but is not eyeing a plan for utility-based computing, in which charges are based on individual usage.
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Looking to get the most out of multi-core processors, a European-driven effort to build a framework for Java-based, real-time applications on modern multi-core chips and parallel processor systems is being announced Tuesday.Called the Java Environment for Parallel Real-time Development, or JEOPARD, the project is being underwritten by the European Commission (EC) to the tune of more than $4.9 million (3.3 million Euros), said The Open Group, which is participating in the project.The objective is to provide tools for platform-independent development of predictable systems that make use of symmetric multiprocessing multi-core platforms and field programmable gate array components, Open Group said. Tools plan would enhance software productivity and reusability by extending processor technology established on desktop systems for the needs of multi-core embedded systems."If you go out and buy a laptop or server, you get four-core processors or whatever. The way people program both applications and OSes hasn't really taken full advantage of the capabilities of these multi-core processors," said Dave Lounsbury, vice president for government services at The Open Group. "This is a hot topic. I think everybody recognizes there are some limitations right now," in making use of multi-core systems, he said.JEOPARD will research how to build APIs, OS extensions and language support for multi-core processors, with a special emphasis on embedded systems, Lounsbury said.The project will delve into extensions to handle different memory configurations. Situations will be considered in which there is not full symmetry, such as when a processor cannot access all parts of memory or chips are not using the same clock, said Lounsbury. These considerations are important because of constraints in memory bandwidth. Languages and operating systems can perform optimizations to address this."The idea here is that we'll see the creation of new sets of tools, whether it's extensions to OSes or new sets of compilers or languages like Java that will bring some of these new capabilities," Lounsbury said.While the project is based around Java, concepts from it could be made to work in other environments, he said. Asked when there might be results from JEOPARD, Lounsbury said the effort is a three-year EC program.Chip vendors could be expected to look closely at the project and incorporate results into their next generations of chips.Contributions from JEOPARD will be to be made to the RTSJ (Real-Time Specification for Java), which focuses on development of portable software in the multi-core embedded space, The Open Group said. Also, JEOPARD will feature development of a platform-independent software development interface for real-time multi-core systems based on RTSJ and Safety-Critical Java. RTSJ is the subject of Java Specification Requests 1 and 282 in the Java Community Process, while Safety-Critical Java is covered in JSR 302.Also participating in JEOPARD are the University of York, FZI, Vienna University of Technology, and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca. Other participants include industrial manufacturers EADS, RadioLabs, and SkySoft and two embedded systems technology suppliers, aicas and Sysgo.In another effort pertaining to development for multi-core chips, RapidMind in November announced RapidMind Multi-core Development Platform v.30, which seeks to help developers build for these processors.
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Microsoft will support only x86 processors with 64-bit extensions when it releases a special version of Windows Server for high-performance computing next year, leaving support for Intel&#39;s Itanium 2 chip to a later, unspecified date.
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Upgrade to high-performance server will include AMD's dual-core chip.
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Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday agreed to require only a single license for server software that runs on computers powered by a new generation of chips
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Analysis: Dual- and quad-core systems add power, but customers wonder whether the they're worth the cost.
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Company will break its promise to deliver a speedier chip, shifts focus to dual-core designs. Intel has confirmed its near-term plans for its desktop processors before it reaches the multicore era.
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(InfoWorld) - In response to requests from some of its distribution partners, Oracle has changed the licensing pricing for some of its lower-end multicore servers in order to be more competitive with database rival Microsoft. Oracle made the move a few weeks ago and chose not to publicize it, unlike two previous changes in its multicore licensing that took place in July and December 2005 respectively. Details of the most recent licensing changes can be found here. An Oracle spokeswoman confirmed the move late Friday. Oracle announced distribution agreements with Tech Data and Ingram Micro in 2006 as a way to attract more SMB customers. Oracle used input from those distributors to put in place the right packaging and pricing to speed up its growth in the SMB market, according to the Oracle spokeswoman. Oracle's reseller partnership with Dell has also increased sales of Oracle's software in the midmarket. "We can go down into SMB, but Microsoft can't move up after two decades of attempts," the Oracle spokeswoman said. "We are now building on that success by adding more high volume distributors. Every deal we get from these new partners would have gone to Microsoft a year ago." Under the new changes that came into effect Feb. 16, Oracle has removed some restrictions on the licensing of its low-end SE (Standard Edition) and SE One (Standard Edition One) databases for multicore servers, making the cost of software substantially cheaper. The move brings Oracle more into line with Microsoft's pricing of its SQL Server database, chargingÂ per processor socket not by number of processor cores. Pricing for Oracle's higher-end Database Enterprise Edition remains the same and rather torturous because it depends on a formula that uses a variable processor factor multiplied by the number of processor cores to determine the price. The processor factor is 0.25 for Sun's UltraSparc T1 chips, but it is 0.50 for chips from AMD and Intel, and then 0.75 for all other multicore chips, including those from IBM. In July 2005, Oracle announced it would no longer charge an individual license for each processor core, instead defining each processor core on multicore chips as 0.75 of a processor. Then in December of that year, the vendor changed that model to bring in separate pricing schemes for different vendors' chips. At present, Oracle is without an executive to oversee its product pricing and licensing. Jacqueline Woods, who was vice president of global pricing and licensing strategy at Oracle, recently left the company to join General Electric. A GE spokeswoman confirmed that Woods had joined the company as global director of segmentation. Oracle wouldn't comment on Woods' departure or who will replace her. Â