Leading Software Vendors Endorse AMD64 Multi-Core Technology

AMD today announced software support from Novell, Red Hat and Sun for AMD64 multi-core technology and recommended ISVs license software applications by socket. This follows a recent demonstration of the industry’s first x86 dual-core processor last week at AMD’s Austin facilities where four x86-based dual-core AMD Opteron™ processors powered an HP ProLiant DL585 server. The upcoming dual-core AMD64 processors are designed to run with current versions of Linux, Solaris and Windows® as well as existing x86- and AMD64-based applications without requiring any software modifications. This follows the AMD customer-centric approach of safeguarding software investments while delivering industry-leading processor innovation.

“AMD continues to innovate within the industry standard, putting the power of choice in the hands of the customer,” said Marty Seyer, corporate vice president and general manager, Microprocessor Business Unit in the AMD Computation Products Group. “Just like AMD’s AMD64 innovation that offers the least disruptive path to 64-bit computing, we are continuing this approach with multi-core technology that is designed to minimize the impact to our hardware and software partners. AMD’s customer-centric approach will enable the hundreds of ISVs who are part of the AMD64 ecosystem to take advantage of the performance benefits of dual-core processors without writing additional code.”

Based on feedback from customers and partners, AMD is providing industry-thought leadership by recommending software developers consider licensing their software by socket and schedule threads by available cores. This recommendation mirrors the software-licensing model that the industry has established for simultaneous multi-threaded (SMT) processors and will allow existing x86 software to run on dual-core processors without having to make changes.

Industry analysts agree. “Gartner recommends that users attempt to negotiate software licenses counting a single-chip device as one processor, no matter how many cores it carries,” said Martin Reynolds, Gartner Fellow, Gartner, Inc.

Dual-core AMD Opteron processors are scheduled to be available in mid-2005. Servers and workstations based on dual-core AMD Opteron processors are expected to more efficiently support the demands of multi-threaded applications. When AMD dual-core processors become available for client platforms, expected in the second half of 2005, multi-threaded operating systems such as Linux, Solaris and Windows will be able to more efficiently handle the simultaneous administration of single-threaded applications typically found in notebook and desktop computing environments.

Industry support
In anticipation of the availability of AMD64 dual-core processors, AMD has been working closely with key ISVs to help ensure compatibility with the AMD64 multi-core technology.

“AMD's multi-core technology will provide an efficient, scalable, well-performing basis for today's most demanding applications,” said Holger Dyroff, vice president, Product Management SUSE LINUX at Novell. “As the market leader in 64-bit Linux technology, Novell's SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server is the right platform to benefit from the advantages of AMD's multi-core technology and we are pleased to announce our support for this innovative technology.”

“Each organization is unique and when building open source architectures flexibility and choice are key,” said Deb Woods, vice president of Product Management at Red Hat. “Red Hat is pleased to announce our intent to support this innovative technology.”

“The Solaris OS has unmatched experience in working with multiple-core processors and multi-threaded applications,” said Glenn Weinberg, vice president, Operating Platforms Group, Sun Microsystems, Inc. “Sun is pleased to join AMD in taking the lead to bring dual-core technology to the x86 market and proactively addressing the software licensing issues. We are in full support of AMD's recommendation for ISVs and we intend to license the Solaris OS by the socket on platforms with multiple-core processors.”