i got Super Xeon server from servermatrix but now when i check Server Information @ cpanel i see (bellow ) 4 processors. can someone please explain how my 2 processor server shows 4 ? :confused:

Processor #1 Vendor: GenuineIntel
Processor #1 Name: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 2.40GHz
Processor #1 speed: 2392.106 MHz
Processor #1 cache size: 512 KB

Processor #2 Vendor: GenuineIntel
Processor #2 Name: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 2.40GHz
Processor #2 speed: 2392.106 MHz
Processor #2 cache size: 512 KB

Processor #3 Vendor: GenuineIntel
Processor #3 Name: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 2.40GHz
Processor #3 speed: 2392.106 MHz
Processor #3 cache size: 512 KB

Processor #4 Vendor: GenuineIntel
Processor #4 Name: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 2.40GHz
Processor #4 speed: 2392.106 MHz
Processor #4 cache size: 512 KB

http://www.intel.com/technology/hyperthread/

Dan, just because the processors are Hyper-Threaded they will show up as 4?

Yes, that is correct.

thank you.

If you want to know why it shows up as 4 is because each cpu registers as 2 in the MP table.

Isn't this a simple thing Redhat could just fix though? I mean its an obvious thing they could fix in the next release - but I've heard this has been around since Redhat 7.3.

It's not broke, why would they fix it.

It all works like clock work - yes, but technically there are only 2 processors present - and 4 are being reported - this is an error - isn;t it? If a system has only 2 CPU's then shouldn't Redhat be reporting 2 CPU's? Even if its because of Hyper- threading or whatever (sorry I'm not too good here on the detailed technicalities :-) ) it doesn't change the fact that there are only 2 CPU's. Isn't this just a simple error that could be corrected easily? Isn't this just Redhat being lazy? Wouldn't it just take a simple coding update to recognise the 4 Xeons are really 2?

Originally posted by illum
It all works like clock work - yes, but technically there are only 2 processors present - and 4 are being reported - this is an error - isn;t it? If a system has only 2 CPU's then shouldn't Redhat be reporting 2 CPU's? Even if its because of Hyper- threading or whatever (sorry I'm not too good here on the detailed technicalities :-) ) it doesn't change the fact that there are only 2 CPU's. Isn't this just a simple error that could be corrected easily? Isn't this just Redhat being lazy? Wouldn't it just take a simple coding update to recognise the 4 Xeons are really 2?


Windows also reports HT processors as two.. I have a 3.0Ghz HT in my workstation and its reported as two in windows...

Its not a bug.. Its a feature :D

I'd certainly rather have 4 processors then 2, lol.

There is no error for anyone to fix. Logically there are four cpu’s (Physically there are 2). This was Intel’s solution to the Pentium 4’s long pipeline (which is most efficient when the pipeline is filled). So what the OS sees is 4 and can issue commands to each like it was an independent processor. In multitasking/multithreaded environments (such as web serving and game servers) this is a really boon as you can quickly fill up the pipeline and take better advantage of the chip.

It is better to have this done on the silicone so you wouldn’t have to write special drivers for each operating system.

Check out:
http://arstechnica.com/paedia/h/hyperthreading/hyperthreading-1.html

Ok, I guess this is common practise now to call it 4 processors instead of 2 - I still don't understand the reasoning behind this - seems like a weird thing to me. I mean I don't just suddenly call my 4 cylinder car engine a V8, just because of some new innovation - anyway who cares I guess - as long as it works. And yes I wouldn't mind if there actually were 4 physical CPU's! When I first got my Server Matrix server I was over the moon :-) Then I realised !!

Originally posted by illum
Ok, I guess this is common practise now to call it 4 processors instead of 2 - I still don't understand the reasoning behind this - seems like a weird thing to me. I mean I don't just suddenly call my 4 cylinder car engine a V8, just because of some new innovation - anyway who cares I guess - as long as it works.
Well people don't reffer to these machines as quad processor machines, they reffer to them as dual xeon processors with HT.

If 2 processors can make the OS think it's 4, how does that work with OS's that are only licensed for 2 processors?

Originally posted by illum
Ok, I guess this is common practise now to call it 4 processors instead of 2 !!

You dont want the OS to see it as 2 processors... the entire point of letting it see it as 4 processors is that it can properly schedule tasks for 4 processors, to actually take advantage of HT. If your talking about the messages linux prints, that is just fluf... the OS will always see it as 4 processors, so they it can allocate jobs to them and properly configure the interrupt controller. Otherwise you have to make every OS aware of HT, and customize things to work with HT instead of them just working without changes ona SMP kernels.