Fujitsu Siemens Computers warns don’t rely on just new processors to speed up applications

Published 25th April 2008

23 April 2008, Bracknell, UK — The increasing use of multi-core processors and their replacement of single core processors may not be delivering the expected benefit in the running of many companies’ key business applications warns Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Europe’s leading IT manufacturer. The company believes the days of upgrading to faster processors to speed up legacy software are rapidly coming to an end..

The problem stems from the fact that many IT departments are moving their business applications across from single-core processors to multi-core processors. This transition to multi-core processors would be fine if the software world was moving rapidly enough to a point of embracing parallel architectures but this is often not the case. The consequence is that for monolithic applications, new machines are actually running the applications slower than the old ones, particularly if this is all the machine is doing.

The introduction of multi-core processors is part of the major chip players’ processor roadmap, with quad core servers and dual core desktops and notebooks having been in launched to corporates in the last year or so. Moore’s Law assumes that the number of transistors doubles every 18 months and it is anticipated that the number of cores will also double in this same time period. In two years’ time eight or 16 core servers will become commonplace as will quad core desktops and notebooks. However a major re-write of applications will be required in order for businesses to take advantage of any extra processing power.

Dave Pritchard, senior technology strategist at Fujitsu Siemens Computers, comments: “The accepted solution for speeding up sluggish application response times used to be to procure new hardware. However, this is no longer the case, and indeed new multi-core processors that are not being used properly in conjunction with parallelised software, might actually result in slower, not faster, applications.
“IT directors need to look closely at their application stacks to see how they can parallelise their monolithic applications. Multi-core processors are perfect for consolidating workloads onto a smaller number of systems. However it may not be the solution if you are installing new hardware with the specific objective of improving response times of a specific monolithic application. In many cases the only solution will be to re-architect the application to enable it to take advantage of the other cores within the new processors but this is not a trivial task and skills to do this are in short supply”

This month Fujitsu Siemens Computers announced new Quad-Core AMD OpteronTM processors were being shipped in all its AMD processor-based PRIMERGY server models, and any customers who had purchased Dual-Core AMD OpteronTM in the last 12 months would benefit from a simple upgrade path to the new quad-core processors. Fujitsu Siemens Computers is able to advise any customers on how they can realise the best results from applications running on the new multi-core processor PRIMERGY servers.


- End -


About Fujitsu Siemens Computers
Fujitsu Siemens Computers is the leading European IT provider with a strategic focus on next-generation Mobility and Dynamic Data Centre products, services and solutions. With a platform and services portfolio of exceptional depth, our offering extends from handhelds through desktops to enterprise-class IT infrastructure solutions and services offerings. Fujitsu Siemens Computers has a presence in all key markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with the services division extending coverage up to 170 countries worldwide. Leveraging the strengths, innovation and global reach of our joint shareholders, Fujitsu Limited and Siemens AG, we make sure we meet the needs of customers: large corporations, small and medium enterprises and private users. To meet international standards for corporate social responsibility, Fujitsu Siemens Computers is a member of the United Nations Global Compact.

For more information on Fujitsu Siemens Computers, please visit: www.fujitsu-siemens.com.