< parallel > (SMP) Two or more similar processor s connected via a high- bandwidth link and managed by one operating system , where each processor has equal access to I/O devices. This is in contrast to the " compute server " kind of parallel processor where a front-end processor handles all I/O to disks, terminals and local area network etc.
The processors are treated more or less equally, with application program s able to run on any or perhaps all processors in the system, interchangeably, at the operating system's discretion. Simple MP usually involves assigning each processor to a fixed task (such as managing the file system), reserving the single main CPU for general tasks.
OS/2 currently supports so-called HMP (Hybrid Multiprocessing), which provides some elements of symmetric multiprocessing, using add-on IBM software called MP/2. OS/2 SMP was planned for release in late 1993.
(1995-03-19)