Linux kernel 2.6.16 supports Cell chips released by Linus

Article title: Linus Linux kernel 2.6.16 supports Cell chips. Linux is a technology channel of the IT lab in China. Includes basic categories such as desktop applications, Linux system management, kernel research, embedded systems, and open source.

According to the latest foreign media reports, Linus Torvalds (Linus Torvalds) recently released version 2.6.16 of the Linux kernel. The new version supports IBM Cell processors, including Oracle Cluster database software, at the same time, it further improves the performance of Linux operating system running on multi-processor systems.

In fact, in terms of technology, Linux is only a kernel, but it is often used to represent the entire operating system based on this kernel. Linux dealers, including Red Hat and Novell, all have their own Linux kernel variants, but the changes are usually not great.

Linux's support for Cell chips will help IBM promote Cell servers later this year. Sony's next-generation video gaming host PS3 will also use Cell processors, which IBM hopes to be used for high-performance computing tasks such as medical image processing.

It is quite difficult to program the Cell chip, but this situation is expected to improve after obtaining Linux support. The new kernel contains the SPU file system, which allows software control and communication with different processing cores.

The Cell chip is not the only multi-core processor supported by Linux. Towoz released a series of patches on Tuesday to run Linux on a server built into Sun Microsystems with the UltraSparc T1 processor. UltraSparc T1 has a total of eight Kernels. Although servers using this chip usually run the Sun Microsystem Solaris operating system, the company also wants to run the Linux operating system.

The new kernel also contains the Oracle Cluster File System (Cluster File System), which can manage the way Server clusters share data and is also part of Suse Linux Enterprise Server, however, RedHat also has its own open source File System, Global File System. linux operating systems are widely used in low-end computer products, and the industry is committed to pushing them to large multi-processor systems. one improvement lies in the way Linux uses non-uniform storage access. Large servers usually divide the memory into several parts. the operating system tries to urge the processor to use near memory when processing tasks, but sometimes it is necessary to call distant data, therefore, the read speed is described using "non-uniform. The new Linux kernel can transfer the information stored in memory so that it is close to the related processor.