HP-UX System Administrator's Guide: Overview

Hardware Threading A hardware technique used in Itanium processors to
enhance the computational performance of a core. Itanium
processors are those used in HP Integrity Servers.
Software Threading A parallel computing technique used by applications and
operating systems to enhance processing efficiency.
Server Formerly referred to as a “system” or “computer”, this
document primarily uses the term “server” to describe
the physical cabinet containing cell boards, processors,
memory, and power supplies.
System This document occasionally uses the term “system” to
define what could be a server or a subset of a server (a
partition) running an independent copy of HP-UX. It will
also use the term system to define what could be a server
or another type of system (for example a Windows based
PC).
Operating System
Throughout this document, a dotted line surrounding
icons for cores and processors indicates an instance of an
operating system (HP-UX or otherwise).
Server Nomenclature
When describing servers, cell-boards, or other components capable of holding processor
chips, HP now uses the nomenclature xP/yC, where x refers to the maximum number
of processors the item can hold, and y refers to the maximum number of cores the item
can hold.
Examples:
• A server defined as a 1P/1C server (representing one processor/one core) is the
simplest of all functional configurations. It contains one, single-core processor.
• A server capable of holding four cell boards, each containing eight dual-core
processors is a 32P/64C server. Each cell board is an 8P/16C cell board.
New Device File Format for Addressing Storage
HP-UX 11i version 3 introduces a new device file format that enables many new features,
such as:
HP-UX 11i Version 3 Highlights 19