On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:42:31 -0500, Tony Harminc <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
<snip> >The Reg, and others who should be able to dig a little deeper, have >accepted the implication that an IFL is somehow optimized or >specialized for running Linux, a zAAP for running Java, and so on, >when they're really all identical. Of course there's no reason IBM >couldn't make true specialty engines, and it won't surprise anyone if >they do at some point. And if that happens, doubtless IBM marketing >will treat them as just an addition to the current line of innovative >specials. > >Tony H. There are such now. The crypto coprocessors are specialized hardware. Or, at least, they are not zArch engines with a special microcode load as the IFL, zIIP, and zAAP are. I could imagine, some day, a hardware engine which has the Java byte code interpreter as replaceable firmware. Maybe a CELL processor. Or maybe even a x86_64 board to run a "headless" version of Windows or Linux. -- John ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
