Why is Throughput Computing a reality now?
Moores Law states that the number of transistors that can be delivered with a single processor doubles every 2 years. This increased transistor budget enables Sun’s processor design team to create processors that more accurately reflect the way commercial applications are written. Most commercial applications are multi-threaded, meaning each user or process transacted by the application is represented by a software thread. Enabling multiple threads to be executed simultaneously is the goal of CMT and is made possible as the number of transistors available increases, allowing multiple cores with multiple threads to be created in a single processor. This is complimented by the multi-threaded capability of the Solaris 10 Operating System, and the maturity of Sun’s software development tools. Only through delivery of this whole ecosystem, can throughput computing be made a reality.
