Re: Windows NT Server vs Windows NT Server Enterprise version

On Mon, 15 Nov 1999 19:44:43 -0500, "Gerry Sinkiewicz" <sinkiege_at_snet.net> wrote:

>Windows NT 4.0 Server Enterprise Edition supports 4 cpu(s) and perhaps more
>memory (guessing
>here).

Some clarification:

Windows NT 4.0 Server Enterprise Edition supports up to 8 processors out of the box. The "normal" Windows NT Server supports 4 processors.

Also, the Enterprise Edition allows the user/system boundary that is normally at the 2 GB virtual address to be shifted to 3 GB, giving user processes 3 GB of virtual memory space instead of 2 GB. This is primarily intended for specialized database engines that make extensive use of memory mapped files to improve database performance.

I believe there are also specialized kernel drivers that have been written to take advantage of Intel's virtual memory extensions, which have been available since the PPro, and allow access for up to 64 GB of memory. Note that NT's memory management is limited to 4 GB of physical memory, so that these drivers must manage themselves all of the memory above 4 GB.

Would welcome comments by anyone "in the know" about >4GB memory in NT Server developments. (Obviously, this line of development is probably being shelved in favor of Itanium and 64 bit Windows 2000.)

R/

James C. Owens
owensjc_at_bellatlantic.net
jamesowens_at_earthlink.net
WinNT 4.0 Server (Bld 1381: SP 6) Super P6DBU 2xPII 400 MHz 256 MB RAM SuSE Linux 6.1 (kernel 2.2.7) Tyan S1563D 2xP55C 166 MHz 192 MB RAM Received on Mon Nov 15 1999 - 20:21:38 CST