Hardware: The Future of Computing
jessica...@yahoo.com
Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday July 23, @11:38AM
An anonymous reader writes
"Penn State computer science professor Max Fomitchev explains that
computing has evolved in a spiral pattern from a centralized model to a
distributed model that retains some aspects of centralized computing.
Single-task PC operating systems (OSes) evolved into multitasking OSes
to make the most of increasing CPU power, and the introduction of the
graphical user interface at the same time reduced CPU performance and
fueled demands for even more efficiencies. "The role of CPU performance
is definitely waning, and if a radical new technology fails to
materialize quickly we will be compelled to write more efficient code
for power consumption costs and reasons," Fomitchev writes. Slow,
bloated software entails higher costs in terms of both direct and
indirect power consumption, and the author reasons that code
optimization will likely involve the replacement of blade server racks
with microblade server racks where every microblade executes a
dedicated task and thus eats up less power. The collective number of
microblades should also far outnumber initial "macro" blades. Fully
isolating software components should enhance the system's robustness
thanks to the potential of real-time component hot-swap or upgrade and
the total removal of software installation, implementation, and patch
conflicts. The likelihood of this happening is reliant on the factor of
energy costs, which directly feeds into the factor of code optimization
efficiency."