64-bit architecture as provided by the Intel® Itanium® Processor Family is a viable alternative for server side applications today. When Itanium-based platforms are implemented with a high performing server-side Java* Virtual Machine (JVM), like BEA System's WebLogic JRockit*, the Java programming language becomes the perfect development platform for large scale, server-side enterprise class applications. These applications, which typically have large data sets, derive substantial benefit from 64-bit computing by being able to use large amounts of memory. This not only helps to reduce-and in some cases, avoid-time-consuming disk-swapping, but also makes software caching much more efficient.
Itanium-based systems harness the power of Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC), which passes beyond the sequential nature of conventional processor architectures by allowing the software to communicate explicitly with the processor whenever operations can be done in parallel. Performance is increased by reducing the number of branches and branch mispredicts, and by reducing the effects of memory-to-processor latency. Itanium-based servers apply EPIC technology to deliver explicit parallelism, massive resources and inherent scalability not available with conventional RISC architectures.
BEA's WebLogic JRockit is the highest performing JVM on the market today. Fully optimized for Itanium architecture across platforms including Windows Server* 2003 Enterprise Edition, Red Hat Linux* Advanced Server for Itanium Processor 2.1 and Red Hat Linux Advanced Workstation for Itanium Processor 2.1. WebLogic JRockit leverages groundbreaking code performance and adaptive optimization, along with innovative, scalable adaptive garbage collectors to ensure optimal performance on 64-bit architectures.
