Conclusion
Plan well and the rest of the process is the same as any software development effort--tighten up the code, compile it with the right tools and test it. The optimization stage is critical. To assist with the process, the processor itself provides an advanced set of performance monitoring tools through the Performance Monitoring Unit (PMU) which can provide developers with detailed information on more than 140 runtime events like cache misses, pipeline stall and branch mispredicts. The PMU provides the ability to perform detailed application analysis without affecting the performance of the application.
Many software-based optimization tools are also available, such as the Intel VTune performance monitor, and can isolate specific lines of code that cause performance problems without having to embed special monitoring code into the program. VTune shares an interface with Intel's threading tools, so developers don't have to learn yet another interface as they start writing multi-threaded code.
Today, the computing world embraces the advantages provided by 64-bit computing. More than half of the Global 100 Corporations already run Itanium 2-based systems, and Intel Itanium 2 processors are at work in more than 70,000 enterprise systems. The Itanium Solutions Alliance brings investment protection through increased geographical coverage, strong developer support, and a growing portfolio of hardware and software.
The next-generation Intel Itanium 2 processor includes a dual core that supports multithreading, better power management, enhanced virtualization, new performance acceleration features, and even greater reliability than the current version. Codenamed "Montecito," this processor is based on 90nm process technology and boasts more than 1.7 billion transistors and a 24MB cache. The processor further enhances parallel processing capabilities and increases the performance benefits for managed code, while providing end users with a 2x performance increase and a greater than 2.5x increase in power efficiency. With multi-core processors for single- and dual-processor servers shortly to follow, porting to Intel Itanium 2 microarchitecture now is an investment for the long-term success of any organization that needs world-class computer performance.
Robin Drummond is president of the Itanium Solutions Alliance. She can be contacted at [email protected].
