What is the difference between Itanium and 64 Bit?

[Former Member]

Hi All

We are currently looking to replace our hardware on our SAP ECC platform and I want to know what is the best way to go. I know we have to go 64 Bit which is fine, but I want to know if a further investment in Itanium is worth it?

Thanks

Phil

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

HI,

SAP recommended to use 64 bit platform.

x64 (also known as x86_64 or AMD64)

This is a 64-bit microprocessor architecture designed by AMD. Later on Intel also introduced a compatible architecture called EM64T.

IA64 (Intel Architecture 64)

This is a 64-bit microprocessor architecture designed by Intel and Hewlett-Packard, implemented by processors such as Itanium and Itanium 2.

check Note 931024 - FAQ: 64-bit platforms for Windows

Regard,.

kaushal

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

IA64 vs X64, there's a big difference in costs as well. Just FYI.

[markus_doehr2 · Accepted solution]

Oh yes - definitely!

Itanium was propagated by Intel to be the successor of x86 but AMD was "faster". So Intel licensed the 64bit technology from AMD to use it in their Xeon processors.

Itanium has a lower frequency which you will notice for single thread application (such as ABAP). This processor is best suited for technical and/or scientific calculations and floating point operations due to its design (more registers, being hyperscalar etc.)

If you have the choice and you don´t need to run really HUGE systems (means with more than 16 CPUs), then I would go for x64 instead of Itanium.

Markus

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks for all of your answers!

I have spoken to HP and they are now even saying that our system is not big enough only (27,000 SAPS) so I think we are going to look at the HP Proliant solutions, which should be enough for us and cheaper!

Phil

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Just to give you some numbers:

90,000 users.

1500 concurrent users.

2500 named SAP users.

5TB DB.

For the database server - We are running this on a HP DL 580 G5 (X64, quad-core, 4 physical procs). 64GB RAM.

The application servers are horizontally scalable (add more servers). The worry isn't so much here. We have some DL585 G1 and G2s here. The database server above is the only component in my landscape that's not horizontally scalable (at least with commodity hardware).

[markus_doehr2 · Accepted solution]

> The application servers are horizontally scalable (add more servers). The worry isn't so much here. We have some DL585 G1 and G2s here. The database server above is the only component in my landscape that's not horizontally scalable (at least with commodity hardware).

Not that true (any more):

HP just released DL785 with 8 QuadCore CPUs and 256 GB RAM. )

Markus

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

most excellent!

I was told by HP not to say anything about the DL7... but since you mentioned it, yes we are all looking forward to it! haha

[markus_doehr2 · Accepted solution]

It the German version of note "171371 - Linux: Released Hewlett Packard hardware" it's listed already (this is for Linux)

Markus

[markus_doehr2]

There's a note discussing this topic:

931024 - FAQ: 64-bit platforms for Windows

Depending on the size of your system it may be necessary to use Itanium systems instead of 64bit Intel/AMD - e. g. if you need more than 16 CPUs.

The "mainstream" platform for 64bit Windows is certainly not IA64 but x86_64/x64/AMD64.

Markus