Windows Server features.. WHY would you even need this?

[Veraster]

I know Windows Server is for businesses that need to run websites or need to build a supercomputer. I know that much but I don't understand how it works.

In the windows server features section here:Windows Server 2008 R2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia where is says "maximum physical cpu's supported", it ranges from 1 to 64.

I know there are motherboards in existence with 2 to 4 sockets such as the EVGA SR-2 and the TYAN S8812WGM3NR, but Enterprise supports 8 and Datacenter supports an insane 64. As far as I know, they don't make motherboards with more than 4 processor sockets. I don't think you can "link" motherboards together can you?

 

[KSoD]

Actually Server Motherboards can have up to 64 CPU's on them. You dont see them for sale on websites, cause they cant be bought by the public for use. They need it cause what type of computer do you think runs Google? Yup it is one of these 64 CPU monsters that can handle billions of requests at a time and get the information out quickly. That is why it is needed and it isnt for the common man. It is for businesses that do need it.

 

[Yami]

I don't think you can "link" motherboards together can you?

It's a simplification, but yes at the ultra-high-end they do that. Each server 'blade' added just adds more processing and memory to the overall computer. For example, here's a Cisco server:

Because it's a modular design you can start off with just one blade and add more as needed.

 

[Veraster]

Can only blade servers do that? What allows blade servers to make one massive computer unit from multiple motherboards that the average desktop pc doesn't have?

What if you have one of those super computers with hundreds of thousands of processors? How do they utilize more than 64 processors if the best version of Windows Server only supports 64 physical processors?

 

[Yami]

Can only blade servers do that? What allows blade servers to make one massive computer unit from multiple motherboards that the average desktop pc doesn't have?

I'm not a server guy (yet), but the blades are built from the ground up for that purpose. Your average desktop PC is a general-purpose machine. These servers are designed for much more specific purposes. You can (sort of) use consumer systems in a similar but much slower way.

For example, at my uni we have a tool for cracking passwords that allows us to split the workload across to other computers in the lab, and to other labs around the uni (particularly the gaming development lab, which has powerful GPUs which make password cracking thousands of times faster). In that particular case, we're only moving around small text files between the systems, meaning we require very little in the way of bandwidth between them. However, with enterprise-level servers, you're moving much, MUCH larger sets of data between the systems. As a result the cost shoots up, as you have to pay for much higher-end networking equipment, processing, memory etc.

The reason that your average desktop PC doesn't work this way is because it doesn't need to be doing that level of work.

What if you have one of those super computers with hundreds of thousands of processors? How do they utilize more than 64 processors if the best version of Windows Server only supports 64 physical processors?

The very easy answer to that is, they don't run Windows Server. Or any version of Windows. At that level Linux is the only and ideal option.

 

[MindoverMaster]

I'm not a server guy either, but I think each blade is like a daughterboard to an actual blade enclosure.

 

[Veraster]

For example, at my uni we have a tool for cracking passwords that allows us to split the workload across to other computers in the lab, and to other labs around the uni (particularly the gaming development lab, which has powerful GPUs which make password cracking thousands of times faster)

How do you split the workload of a high power application to other computers? I do 3d rendering for making custom maps for games and it takes forever to build a maps lighting even on my i7. I have a lot of half-generation old computers laying around (still good for anything except gaming or 3d rendering). Maybe it's possible to configure somthing similar to what you have and make the rendering go faster?

Also how does using powerful GPUs make password cracking go thousands of times faster? Do you just have a LOT of computers with NVidia Tesla's? Most video cards don't cost anywhere near as much as processor's do so I wouldn't think there would be that much of a performance increase.

 

[KSoD]

You will not be able to link together all of your old PC's and make a super computer to do what you want. As stated already, it is only Blade Servers, items which can not be purchased online thru any retailer for end consumer use.

The workload is split by the OS. All blades act as 1 unit. So no manual configuration is needed.

The GPU CPU can do much more than a CPU. It is for that reason that things like Bionic and F@H use GPU folding to get a lot of work done quickly while leaving the heavy work load to the CPU's. Plus it all depends on the program. We dont allow talks of hacking and cracking, so you will have to go elsewhere if you want more information than that.

We cant answer if the computer must have lots of Tesla's. As stated by how many people, plus the fact this is the End User Windows area not the corporate or server based area, we are not Server people. We know how to operate and fix Windows on a PC, not a Server. I know of the Server OS cause I have used it. But very few people onsite actually have indepth knowledge of Server Hardware.

 

[Lexluethar]

It's simple economics. Blade servers run tens of thousands of dollars and can run entire enterprises comprising of hundreds of thousands of end users if needed. There is absolutely no need for a standard user to sue this much power or spend that much money - which is where standard desktops / laptops fit in. The hardware is specifically designed for a blade environment so when you hook each blade up to the chassis it presents the hardware as one physical unit to the OS - not 5 separate blades. So say you have a blade with 5 processors and 10 GB RAM each, if you pop 5 of those into the blade center it will present that as 25 processors and 50 GB of available ram. Even though the processing threads are being filtered through the blade center.

I too am working on some day being a server guy and i can tell you the complexity of server 2008 R2 is really amazing and the amount of configuration involved is astounding. You can add various roles on the server which can act as an ADDS, File server, VPN tunnel, NAT, RASS, WSUS and a plethora of other services and devices.

What will really get you thinking is companies are now moving towards VM's. So you can use Hyper V or V Sphere (or any other virtual machine product) and create multiple separate VM's from one large PC. So you can have a server running V Sphere with a ton of resources and you can break those resources into individual servers running specifc roles. The reason you do this is again - economics. Any unused resource is a waste of money, so with VM's you can tailor each VM to the exact resource amount that server needs to do it's job so. So instead of having a lot of unused CPU power or RAM, you can constantly make that server run at say 80% capacity and you are getting more out of your money.

Sorry long winded... And blade centers are too for sale, we get ours through dell: Blade Server - Dell PowerEdge Blade Servers | Dell

 

[MindoverMaster]

Yeah, I was going to say, Dell sells those blade servers...