Users' questions

What is the meaning of SPARC?

What is the meaning of SPARC?

Scalable Processor Architecture
SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) instruction set architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems.

Is SPARC RISC or CISC?

SPARC is a RISC architecture. The number of pipeline stages is a attribute of the micro-architecture (implementation), not the architecture. So it varies from design to design. Both the Pentium and Pentium Pro implemented the x86 architecture but have different number of pipe stages.

What are SPARC servers used for?

Oracle SPARC servers deliver high performance, security, and uptime for customers’ database and Java workloads. Organizations lower the cost of modernizing UNIX infrastructure with scale-up and scale-out designs that include the Oracle Solaris operating system and virtualization software at no additional cost.

What is Solaris SPARC vs x86?

Originally the x86 was a 16-bit processor and SPARC was 32-bit. But x86 became a 32-bit processor as it evolved, and after suffering some really potent competition from AMD, Intel bit the bullet and went 64-bit. SPARC also made the transition to 64-bit in the early 2000s. So, no longer much difference there.

What does SPARC stand for in microprocessor architecture?

SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) Share this item with your network: SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a 32- and 64-bit microprocessor architecture from Sun Microsystems that is based on reduced instruction set computing (RISC).

Is the SPARC architecture used in Solaris systems?

SPARC has become a widely-used architecture for hardware used with UNIX-based operating systems, including Sun’s own Solaris systems. Sun has made SPARC an open architecture that is available for licensing to microprocessor manufacturers.

Where does the term scalable come from in SPARC?

The “Scalable” in SPARC comes from the fact that the SPARC specification allows implementations to scale from embedded processors up through large server processors, all sharing the same core (non-privileged) instruction set.

Is the UltraSPARC III a scalable processor architecture?

As evidence of SPARC’s scalability, Sun says that its UltraSPARC III will be designed to allow up to 1,000 processors to work together.