Demystifying Hardware - SQL Server 2012 Internals and Troubleshooting - page 41

as larger cache sizes or improved memory controllers. This is the tick release. This Tick-Tock release
strategy benei ts the DBA in a number of ways. It offers better predictability regarding when major
(tock) and minor (tick) releases will be available. This helps you plan hardware upgrades to possibly
coincide with your operating system and SQL Server version upgrades.

Tick releases are usually socket-compatible with the previous year's tock release, which makes
it easier for the system manufacturer to make the latest tick release processor available in exist-
ing server models quickly, without completely redesigning the system. In most cases, only a BIOS
update is required to enable an existing model system to use a newer tick release processor. This
makes it easier for the DBA to maintain servers that are using the same model number (such as a
Dell PowerEdge R710 server), as the server model will have a longer manufacturing life span. For
example, the Dell PowerEdge R710 was able to use the original 45nm Nehalem-EP Xeon 5500 series
processors and the newer 32nm Westmere-EP Xeon 5600 series processors, so that model server was
available for purchase for over three years.

As a DBA, you need to know where a particular processor falls in Intel's processor family tree in
order to meaningfully compare the relative performance of two different processors. Historically,
processor performance has nearly doubled with each new tock release, while performance usually
increases by around 20-25% with a tick release. Some of the recent and upcoming Intel Tick-Tock
releases are shown in Figure 2-3.

FIGURE 2-3

The manufacturing process technology refers to the size of the individual circuits and transistors
on the chip. The Intel 4004 (released in 1971) series used a 10-micron process; the smallest fea-
ture on the processor was 10 millionths of a meter across. By contrast, the Intel Xeon “Ivy Bridge”
E3-1200 v2 series (released in May 2012) uses a 22nm process. For comparison, a nanometer is
one billionth of a meter, so 10 microns would be 10,000 nanometers. This ever-shrinking
manufacturing process is important for two main reasons:

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Increased performance and lower power usage — Even at the speed of light, distance
matters, so having smaller components that are closer together on a processor means better
performance and lower power usage.