Benefits of 64 bit Server Software

Most computers these days ship pre-loaded with 64 bit Windows operating systems.  This had led to some compatibility issues with some 32-bit software either not working at all, or running with limited functionality.  The primary issue many users face is driver incompatibility for their peripherals which require 64 bit drivers.  Most 32 bit application software will still install and run on 64 bit Windows platforms; however, there are usually configuration issues that can frustrate users and leave them wondering what benefits, if any, there are to a 64 bit operating system.

The primary benefits to running native 64 bit software on your 64 bit operating system are the ability to allocate and use more memory and speed.   When running 32 bit applications on a 64 bit OS, Windows will run them in a subsystem called “Windows on Windows (WOW64)” which is a transition layer to map all Windows calls from their 32 bit to 64 equivalents.  The WOW64 layer also intercepts registry calls and uses a special tree in the registry to store settings to not interfere with native 64 bit software.  Using the WOW64 transition layer will have a negative effect on performance and will not give 32 bit applications the increased memory space that native 64 applications enjoy.  A 32 bit Windows application can use/address at most only 2 GB of memory, even though the computer system may have 16 GB of memory installed.   Even when running on a 64 bit operating system, 32 bit applications still can only address 2 GB of memory.   A native 64 bit application can access/allocate 8 terabytes (TB) of memory.

You may be wondering if any application really needs to address more than 2 GB of memory.  If you are running file server software, then the answer is yes.  To be highly scalable, your server software should be able to make use of all available system memory.  File server software, such as FTP/SFTP/DAV servers, are designed to handle many clients and sessions simultaneously and generally interact with database servers at the same time.   The more users accessing the server at the same time the more memory that it requires.  If your file server software only supports 32 bit operating systems then you are limiting its scalability.  When choosing a file server solution it is a good idea to look for servers that natively support 64 bit operating systems to get the benefits of increased memory capabilities, scalability and speed.

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