When looking at system performance and capacity planning I need to know what processors a server is running. In ^SystemPerformance Linux systems report Intel processors explicitly, for example: ```other processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 79 model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2673 v4 @ 2.30GHz stepping : 1 microcode : 0xffffffff cpu MHz : 2294.685 ``` Its pretty obvious this is a Broadwell E5-2673 v4 processor, and I can get the specifications and enough details to look at the SPECint rating and other information, for example: [Intel reference](https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/91755/intel-xeon-processor-e52697-v4-45m-cache-2-30-ghz.html) This also gives me clues to the age of the host server... is it reaching end of life etc. Windows reports processors in a more coded way, by reporting the environment variable `PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER` for example: ```other Processor(s): 2 Processor(s) Installed. [01]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 79 Stepping 1 GenuineIntel ~1200 Mhz [02]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 79 Stepping 1 GenuineIntel ~1200 Mhz ``` This looks similar to the Linux example, but how can I tell what this processor is? ## Solution 1: the easy way... Ask someone managing the system to tell you what processors are being used! - The information is available from the windows GUI. - Or by command line: `wmic cpu get name` For example: ```other E:\Profiles\myname>wmic cpu get name Name Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2650 v4 @ 2.20GHz Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2650 v4 @ 2.20GHz ``` ## Solution 2: the hard way... You need to be a detective. Breaking down the code in the `PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER` string above: `Intel64 Family 6 Model 79 Stepping 1 GenuineIntel ~1200 Mhz` **Family 6** Intel releases processors in families. A starting point is WikiChip: [CPUID - Intel - WikiChip](https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/cpuid#Family_6) Processor Family 6 (Server) is Broadwell, Skylake, etc. The majority of performance data I get is this processor Family. **Model 79** Now search for the CPU model number. ![Image.png](https://res.craft.do/user/full/635e53bd-527a-1620-0e31-f8c3bdff1139/doc/8A23F4F2-6770-4F40-AD25-103357A8C6D7/5CD9DB77-8B02-4A24-BD1D-01FD5D95B2CA_2/Image.png) We can see that model 79 is a Broadwell processor. - 2-socket servers use Broadwell EP, the E5-26nn V4 processors. - 4 and 8-socket servers use Broadwell EX: - quad-CPU: Xeon E5-46nn v4, Xeon E7-48nn v4 - octo-CPU: Xeon E7-88nn v4 **Stepping 1** Stepping is the revision number of the model. Higher revision numbers are later versions of the same model. **Mhz** The reported processor speed will allow you to narrow down your search. In this case made difficult/impossible because there is no 1.2GHz Broadwell processor, the system is probably running in power saving mode. **Number of CPU cores** In the first line of mgstat output look for *numberofcpus, for example:* ```other numberofcpus=32:x86^2^16 ``` There are 32 cpus. On 2 processors (16 per processor). You can also find `NUMCPU: 32` in the cstat sections of ^SystemPerformance. Remember that the system sees cpus (threads). So you need to look for a processor model with 8 *cores* per processor. From there you can narrow your search. Wikipedia is a good resource. [Broadwell (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadwell_(microarchitecture)) From wikipedia I can see a couple of likely suspects: - Xeon E5-2667 V4 and Xeon E5-2620 V4. ![2021-11-30_16-50-35 (9).png](https://res.craft.do/user/full/635e53bd-527a-1620-0e31-f8c3bdff1139/doc/8A23F4F2-6770-4F40-AD25-103357A8C6D7/65D6AE06-417E-4F1F-B5D2-F7D5A743641B_2/2021-11-30_16-50-35%209.png) ## Summary If you cannot get the details from the customer or access the server you can be a detective and (possibly) find the processor type.