SMPjärjestelmissä

SMPjärjestelmissä refers to Symmetric Multiprocessing systems in Finnish. Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) is a computer hardware configuration where two or more identical processors are connected to a single shared main memory. All processors have equal access to the memory and I/O devices. This shared access and identical nature of the processors is what gives the system its "symmetric" designation.

In an SMP system, any processor can perform any task. The operating system manages the distribution of tasks among the available processors. This allows for true parallel processing, where multiple threads or processes can execute concurrently on different processors. This contrasts with asymmetric multiprocessing, where processors have specialized roles or different levels of access.

The primary advantage of SMP is its ability to increase performance by allowing multiple tasks to run simultaneously. This is beneficial for demanding applications, multitasking environments, and servers handling many requests. The operating system's scheduler plays a crucial role in efficiently allocating workload to prevent processor contention and maximize throughput.

SMP systems are common in modern personal computers, workstations, and servers. The complexity of managing shared resources and ensuring data integrity across multiple processors is handled by the operating system and hardware. Cache coherency mechanisms are also vital in SMP to ensure that all processors have access to the most up-to-date data.