32bit and 64bit

[raqeeb]

Good Morning

Can any one please explain me what is 32 bit Operating system and 64 bit operating system?

Regards
raqeeb

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

Check this link for some information on 32-bit vs 64-bit distributions:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...bit-linux.html

[Rubberman]

The link provided by ozar makes good points. I'd just like to add a few things, as I run a 64-bit Linux OS on my main workstation.

1. If your system supports the PAE extensions, then a 32-bit OS will handle more than 8GB of RAM if it uses a recent kernel that has been compiled to use the PAE extensions.

2. A 64-bit x86 Linux distribution will run 32-bit applications seamlessly.

3. Even with PAE and more than 4GB of RAM, no single application in 32-bit mode can handle more than 4GB of memory. This might be an issue if you are running large databases or need to cache a lot of data in memory for performance purposes.

4. If you are running one or more virtual machines on your system, then use a 64-bit distribution if your system supports it.

In the year and a half since I started running a 64-bit system, my only performance issue (mostly) has been I/O bandwidth. Ie, disc latency is the biggest bottleneck in the system. CPU intensive operations are proably a wash on current systems, though many CPU benchmarks show that 32-bit linux is still faster than 64-bit versions unless, as noted, the applications are designed for the 64-bit environment.

So, if you are still uncertain which is best for you, then provide some more details about your system configuration and what your intended uses of it might be. Then we can give you more explicit advise.