Improving Machine Efficiency Through Consolidation

Improving Machine Efficiency Through Consolidation

Multicore computing is really just the continuing development of more powerful system architectures. Tasks that used to require a dedicated machine can now be performed using a single core of a multicore machine. This is a new opportunity to consolidate multiple tasks from multiple separate machines down to a single multicore machine. An example might be using a single machine for both a web server and e-mail where previously these functions would be running on their own dedicated machines.

There are many ways to achieve this. The simplest would be to log into the machine and start both the e-mail and web server. However, for security reasons, it is often neces-sary to keep these functions separated. It would be unfortunate if it were possible to send a suitably formed request to the web server allowing it to retrieve someone’s e-mail archive.

The obvious solution would be to run both servers as different users. This could use the default access control system to stop the web server from getting access to the e-mail server’s file. This would work, but it does not guard against user error. For example, someone might accidentally put one of the mail server’s files under the wrong permis-sions, leaving the mail open to reading or perhaps leaving it possible to install a back door into the system. For this reason, smarter technologies have evolved to provide bet-ter separation between processes running on the same machine.