3.2. Parallel Systems Architectures

Multiprocessor (MP) systems from Sun (SPARC-processor-based), as well as several Intel-based MP platforms, are implemented as symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) systems. Symmetric multiprocessor describes a system in which a peer-to-peer relationship exists among all the processors (CPUs) on the system. A master processor, defined as the only CPU on the system that can execute operating system code and field interrupts, does not exist. All processors are equal. The SMP acronym can also be extended to mean Shared Memory Multiprocessor, which defines an architecture in which all the processors in the system share a uniform view of the system's physical address space and the operating system's virtual address space. ...

Get Solaris™ Internals: Core Kernel Components now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.