SQL Anywhere database - AMD 64 bit CPU and Sybase

Author

AMD 64 bit CPU and Sybase

2005-10-27, 7:41 am

Greetings,
local support girl try to persuade me, that AMD 3200+; 64-bit; 2.0 GB
CPU will die fast if I will use it on server with Sybase...
I couldn't find any info on sybase.com.
Anybody could comment this ?
And Could Anybody comment me is it performance difference between such AMD
CPU and Intel 32 bit CPU when using on DB server ?

Thank you

Joshua Savill

2005-10-27, 7:41 am

Jo,

Seeing as SQL Anywhere runs just like any other application on your machine,
although probably a lot more resource intensive, it has no effect on the
life of the CPU.

There are differences between running on a 64-bit processor and a 32-bit
processor. The difference will depend on whether or not you are using the
32-bit install of ASA on the 64-bit processor. If so, then the processor
will need to emulate 32-bit mode to run the database server. There are other
factors that play an important role in performance including disk drive
configuration and available cache.

ASA should also be configured to perform optimally based on the application
needs. There are a variety of areas in ASA where performance can be
improved. I suggest reviewing the following sections of our documentation
for some areas that should be analysed:

ASA SQL User's Guide
Monitoring and Improving Performance

Online:
http://www.ianywhere.com/developer/...n9/00000167.htm

Overall, the choice of using a 64-bit AMD processor versus a 32-bit Intel
processor is dependent on your business needs.

--
Joshua Savill
iAnywhere Solutions - Product Support Analyst

"Jo" <Jo@jojo.lt> wrote in message news:435f8d10@forums
-2-dub...
> Greetings,
> local support girl try to persuade me, that AMD 3200+; 64-bit; 2.0 GB
> CPU will die fast if I will use it on server with Sybase...
> I couldn't find any info on sybase.com.
> Anybody could comment this ?
> And Could Anybody comment me is it performance difference between such AMD
> CPU and Intel 32 bit CPU when using on DB server ?
>
>
> Thank you
>

Greg Fenton

2005-10-27, 7:41 am

Jo wrote:
> local support girl try to persuade me, that AMD 3200+; 64-bit; 2.0 GB
> CPU will die fast if I will use it on server with Sybase...

This is an absurd statement from anyone who has a technological
background. I would go back to this individual and ask them to define
what they mean by "die fat" and "with Sybase".

First, CPUs don't "die" very often. Second "Sybase" is a company with
hundreds (thousands?) of products, of which SQLAnywhere is just one [and
is often confused with ASE when people are talking about "Sybase"].

The short answer to your post is that SQLAnywhere 9.x supports both
32-bit and 64-bit CPUs on various operating systems. The supported
platforms are fully and equally well supported:

http://www.ianywhere.com/products/s..._platforms.html

> And Could Anybody comment me is it performance difference between such AMD
> CPU and Intel 32 bit CPU when using on DB server ?

This question is actually too vague to answer. There are all sorts of
variables that could affect performance of one machine configuration
over another:
- OS
- bit-ness of the application (e.g. running on 64-bit OS in 32-bit mode)
- memory type and speed
- CPU cache sizes
- etc...

On top of this, you need to know if your database (and application) will
be CPU, memory, network, or disk bound. If CPU is not the bottleneck,
than the "faster" CPU won't make a difference. Maybe your application
is not limited by any of these resources, for example an application
that suffers from concurrency issues (excessive blocking).

Then there is the problem of trying to compare CPUs based on clock speed
(which is not often all that relevant).

And, to top it off, there is the problem with the word "performance".
One person's definition is "get my answer back as quickly as possible",
whereas another person's is "get all answers back in as short a time as
possible". These may yield very different configuration requirements.

--
Greg Fenton
Consultant, Solution Services, iAnywhere Solutions
--------
Visit the iAnywhere Solutions Developer Community
Whitepapers, TechDocs, Downloads
http://www.ianywhere.com/developer/

John Smirnios

2005-10-27, 7:41 am

I agree with what Greg Fenton wrote but I'd also like to add a couple of
things:

1. It sounds like your local support person has some unsubstantiated
anti-AMD biases. I can assure you that the AMD processors are very high
quality: the are reliable, have excellent performance, have low power
consumption and good prices.

2. When running a 32-bit application on a 64-bit Windows x64 Edition
system (whether you are using an AMD64 or INTEL EM64T processor), you
can expect the program to run at FULL SPEED. Sometimes, there are even
advantages to running a 32-bit program on the 64-bit OS. For example,
32-bit programs on Windows x64 Edition get 4GB of address space instead
of the 2GB on 32-bit XP (or 3GB on Advanced Server and up). The 32-bit
ASA server can have a larger conventional cache when running on Windows
x64 than it can on any 32-bit Windows OS. Of course, 64-bit ASA on the
system can have an even larger cache.

FWIW, my development machine is a dual AMD Opteron 252 system running
Windows x64 Edition and I _love_ it.

-john.

--
John Smirnios
Senior Software Developer
iAnywhere Solutions Engineering

Whitepapers, TechDocs, bug fixes are all available through the iAnywhere
Developer Community at http://www.ianywhere.com/developer

Jo wrote:
> Greetings,
> local support girl try to persuade me, that AMD 3200+; 64-bit; 2.0 GB
> CPU will die fast if I will use it on server with Sybase...
> I couldn't find any info on sybase.com.
> Anybody could comment this ?
> And Could Anybody comment me is it performance difference between such AMD
> CPU and Intel 32 bit CPU when using on DB server ?
>
>
> Thank you
>
>

2005-10-27, 7:41 am

Thank you for your answers, I am working in IT for many years but also never
heard about such thing.
about 64-bit app.,- problem is that client will use Windows SBS server which
is still 32- bit;
will be performanse goals if it will install 64-bit sybase on it?

"John Smirnios" < smirnios_at_sybase_d
ot_com> wrote in message
news:435fd29d$1@foru
ms-1-dub...[color=darkred]
>I agree with what Greg Fenton wrote but I'd also like to add a couple of
>things:
>
> 1. It sounds like your local support person has some unsubstantiated
> anti-AMD biases. I can assure you that the AMD processors are very high
> quality: the are reliable, have excellent performance, have low power
> consumption and good prices.
>
> 2. When running a 32-bit application on a 64-bit Windows x64 Edition
> system (whether you are using an AMD64 or INTEL EM64T processor), you can
> expect the program to run at FULL SPEED. Sometimes, there are even
> advantages to running a 32-bit program on the 64-bit OS. For example,
> 32-bit programs on Windows x64 Edition get 4GB of address space instead of
> the 2GB on 32-bit XP (or 3GB on Advanced Server and up). The 32-bit ASA
> server can have a larger conventional cache when running on Windows x64
> than it can on any 32-bit Windows OS. Of course, 64-bit ASA on the system
> can have an even larger cache.
>
> FWIW, my development machine is a dual AMD Opteron 252 system running
> Windows x64 Edition and I _love_ it.
>
> -john.
>
> --
> John Smirnios
> Senior Software Developer
> iAnywhere Solutions Engineering
>
> Whitepapers, TechDocs, bug fixes are all available through the iAnywhere
> Developer Community at http://www.ianywhere.com/developer
>
> Jo wrote:

John Smirnios

2005-10-27, 5:27 pm

If your OS is 64-bit, you can run 32-bit and 64-bit client applications
at full speed. 32-bit ASA client software can also communicate with a
64-bit ASA server (and vice versa) seamlessly and at full speed.

If you don't need the advantages of 64-bit computing (eg an enormous
cache) & you'd rather use 32-bit ASA, feel free to use it. The
performance will be essentially the same.

You don't even need to use a 64-bit OS on that chip if you don't want
to. 32-bit Windows running on a 64-bit capable chip also runs at full speed.

-john.

--
John Smirnios
Senior Software Developer
iAnywhere Solutions Engineering

Whitepapers, TechDocs, bug fixes are all available through the iAnywhere
Developer Community at http://www.ianywhere.com/developer

Jo wrote:
> Thank you for your answers, I am working in IT for many years but also never
> heard about such thing.
> about 64-bit app.,- problem is that client will use Windows SBS server which
> is still 32- bit;
> will be performanse goals if it will install 64-bit sybase on it?
>
> "John Smirnios" < smirnios_at_sybase_d
ot_com> wrote in message
> news:435fd29d$1@foru
ms-1-dub...
>
>
>
>

Sponsored Links