November 1998
Compaq Computer
Corporation
ISSD Technology
Communications
C
O N T E N T S
Introduction ......................3
Architecture Overview.......3
Advanced SMP ..................3
Pentium Pro Processor ........ 4
Pentium II Processor ........... 4
Dual Memory Buses ..........5
Dual-Peer PCI Buses .........8
Multiple Drives..................8
Alternative
Architectures ....................9
Typical NT/X86
Architecture ....................... 9
Unified Memory
Architecture ....................... 9
Crossbar Switch
Architecture ..................... 11
AGPset Architecture .......... 12
Conclusion ..................... 13
ECG066/1198
T
ECHNOLOGY
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Highly Parallel System Architecture for
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Compaq Professional Workstations
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5100, 6000, and 8000
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As critical applications for financial analysis, computer-aided design (CAD), computer-
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aided engineering (CAE), and digital content creation (DCC) place growing demands on
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system resources, increasing system bandwidth becomes a critical business issue. After
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evaluating available system architectures, Compaq determined that only a new, highly
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parallel system architecture could provide the required levels of performance, processor
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and I/O expandability, and bandwidth to satisfy the needs of workstation users. Compaq
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is therefore implementing a new architecture that delivers the greatest bandwidth
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available today for systems running such demanding applications under the Microsoft
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Windows NT operating system.
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This technology brief describes the new Highly Parallel System Architecture and
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differentiates it from other architectures used in X86 systems.
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Please direct comments regarding this communication to the ISSD Technology Communications Group at this Internet address:
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TechCom@compaq.com
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1
B
RIEF