Sparc M8

[Dirk Broer]

Oracle has a new CPU that might be interesting for crunchers like us (though I think it will be too expensive).
It is a 32-core CPU, but unlike the 32-core EPYC that can run two threads per core, it can run an astounding EIGHT threads per core.
This make a system with a single M8 CPU capable of running 256 threads at a time.

But it turns out that eight threads per core is nothing new in Sparc-land:



Looks like we need to look for a Sparc server when there is a server pull!

Now to the BOINC side of this.

The Sparc architecture can run various OS-es: FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris and Linux.

• BOINC clients for FreeBSD are known, projects far less -and mostly for x86 architecture.
  But there is FreeBSD/Sparc64
• BOINC clients for OpenBSD are less known, projects even lesser than less -and mostly for x86 architecture.
  Still there is OpenBSD/Sparc64
• BOINC clients for Solaris can be found, but projects apart from Seti?
  Oracle has a Solaris for Sparc CPUs (of course!)
• Everyone knows that there are Linux BOINC clients, but is there BOINC for Linux/Sparc?
  Linux/Sparc is offered by -surprise- Oracle!

I'll go hunting for projects with SPARC applications. If I find one outside of Seti@Home, I'll let you know...

A bit disconcerting that a given Oracle Admin can either burn-in or decommission a Solaris server equipped with Sparc M7's and run 4096 Seti WUs at a time...