Multi-Core Processors - Free Essay on Technology

For a long time, people and companies attempted to build computers with multiple CPUs; this is before the introduction of multi-core processors. It was a very expensive practice as the physical hardware needed more CPU sockets. It also led to the increase of latency because due to the increase in the communication that was needed to take place in the processors. This led to slower computes basically due to the physical distance between the CPUs. The introduction of multi-core processor entailed putting all the processes on one chip with multiple cores. The distance is reduced in multicore processors, and each core can share resources to do heavy tasks (Looper, 2018). For instance, the early Intel Pentium II and III chips had two processors on one single motherboard.

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Later, there was the introduction of hyper-threading concept, which came from Intel. The hyper-threading utilizes the idea that there are frequently unused resources in a processor. This hyper-threading is slower compared to a processor with double cores. After tests and research, CPUs with more than one core were finally built. This meant that one processor had multiple processing units. For instance, an octa-core has eight processing units (Looper, 2018). The processors with multicore cores were developed due to the need for faster processors. The introduction of a multi-core processor is responsible for the increase in clock speeds of the CPUs. This is because the processor can now handle multiple data threads due to the extra cores in the CPUs.

Multi-core processors make it possible for multiple tasks to be done at once, thus making CPUs more efficient in their day to day usage. It increases performance by running multiple application together. Multi-core processors are energy efficient as they have less cooling needs. This, in turn, reduces the power consumption due to the less energy wasted as heat. These processors have reduced the hardware costs as it just requires one CPU to perform complex tasks that would have initially require more than one CPU to perform. According to Nordquist (2018), the multi-core processor is essential in virtualization. In managing VMS, memory management is critical, and as usual, it is the first resource to become constrained. Multi-core CPUs gives an increase in memory channels, thus making large blocks of data to be analyzed and processed. This makes the processor to obtain its data from memory rather than the hard drive, leading to higher performance. Multi-core servers enable one to handle even the most demanding applications in a VMS.

Multi-core has also been applied in performing complex computation. This is done in the practice of high-performance computing and can be used to solve complex scientific problems (Nordquist, 2018). Multicore processors can also be applied in databases and the cloud computing. Increase in the number of CPU cores allows one to run more tasks. Through multicore processors, multiple databases can be compacted into a single server. This is possible due to the increase in memory bandwidth. Multi-cores make it possible for companies to raise up the number of cores during high computing times in cloud environments, which are transaction heavy. Optimization of workloads and reduction of energy used in this case can be achieved by turning on or of the cores as needed.

References

Looper, C. (2018). All About Multi-Core Processors: What They Are, How They Work, And Where They Came From - PCMech. Retrieved from https://www.pcmech.com/article/all-about-multi-core-processors-what-they-are-how-they-work-and-where-they-came-from/

Nordquist, B. (2018). 4 Areas Where Multi-core Processing Really Matters - StorageCraft. Retrieved from https://blog.storagecraft.com/4-areas-multi-core-processing-really-matters/