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encrypted itself. As a result, enterprises need platforms that can encrypt and
decrypt data very quickly. The x455 is suited to this task.
To compare the performance in integer and floating-point operations with other
processors on the market, see SPECint_base2000 and SPECfp_base2000
benchmarks at:
http://www.spec.org
2.7.4 In-house developed compute-intensive applications
For developers, the 64-bit architecture allows creation of applications using a
familiar programming model that encourages the development of a wide-ranging
set of enterprise solutions. The experiences gained on the IA-32 platform can be
reused when creating applications for Itanium 2-based systems. Thus developers
are not required to start from scratch to make their transition to the 64-bit world.
In most cases, existing 32-bit code will not require a complete rewrite, but only
recompilation. This, however, should not be used as a long-term and easy option
if re-writing will yield significant performance benefits.
IA-64 parallelism is managed by the compiler itself. Application development
does not require special techniques before it is compiled. Currently available
compilers optimized for Itanium 2 include:
Intel C++ Compiler
Intel Fortran Compiler
Microsoft SDK/C/C++ Compiler
2.7.5 Science and technology industries
Science and technology industries (S&TC) require the processing of large and
complex calculations to solve challenging problems.
While S&TC industries are characterized by compute-intensive workloads that
require special server characteristics to meet their performance needs, each
industry, such as aerospace, automotive petroleum, research, or weather, also
has its own set of S&TC applications, each demanding different computing
solutions.
The Itanium 2-based systems are an ideal platform for compute-intensive
applications. It is for this reason that the Itanium and Itanium 2 processors were
chosen for the largest American-built supercomputer, the TeraGrid project
sponsored by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. When finally
deployed with more than 3,000 Itanium 2 chips, TeraGrid will be capable of more
than 14 billion floating-point operations per second (teraflops).
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Chapter 2. Positioning
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