64 Bit Computing Becoming Mainstream in the Enterprise
As system administrators, it is becoming more and more evident that the world of 32-bit servers is coming to an end. One only has to install new versions of Exchange Server or Windows to find the unavailability of 32-bit distros. With hardware configurations now commonly including 32 or even 64 gigs of RAM, 32-bit operating systems have simply reached the end of their capabilities with not only memory management but also in general enterprise performance.
Recently with the release of VSphere 4.1 server, VMware jumped on the 64-bit bandwagon in only supporting the install of VSphere on a 64-bit machine/OS. This is a change from the company’s earlier stance with VSphere only being supported on 32-bit operating system. With virtual environments growing with leaps and bounds in the enterprise environment, 32-bit can’t scale to the level of performance that 64-bit is able to support.
Read VMware’s official Knowledge Base:
