On Thursday 18 August 2005 07:11, Nick wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Just wanted to check which branch was the correct one for a Xeon EMT64?
IA64 is itanium - that's out... x86_64 or i386 depends on the intended use of
your system. If it is a server and has lots of memory then the 64bit variant
is the right for you. If you need something that is easier to use and do not
have >2Gb ram, you're better off with i386 in my opinion.
The reason for that is that several applications (i.e. firefox plugins) will
have to run 32bit even if you installed the 64bit x86_64 OS since no 64bit
versions are available. To achive that, x86_64 contains a complete 32bit
runtime environment. This means you need more disk space (i.e. for the 64bit
and the 32bit versions of libraries) and you have a better chance of getting
something wrong (i.e. the 64bit library of something you need is installed
but you would need the 32bit version. A simple rpm -qa will show the package
is installed but when running your 32bit app, it will still fail). Yum will
take care of most of this, but if you're new to linux and/or do not want to
have to deal with these things, a i386 install is just simpler.
Peter.
