Tech moves fast! Stay ahead of the curve with Techopedia!
Join nearly 200,000 subscribers who receive actionable tech insights from Techopedia.
Dual Processor (DP)
Last Updated: January 19, 2013
Definition - What does Dual Processor (DP) mean?
A dual-processor (DP) is a system that includes two separate physical processors in the same framework. In systems containing dual processors, each physical processor may be located on the same or different motherboards. Both physical processors may include multiple cores.
DPs are primarily used to increase speed and perform virtualization and multitasking tasks.
Techopedia explains Dual Processor (DP)
Key benefits of dual processor are as follows:
- Speed: As the main advantage, speed improvement while using a second processor is remarkable, compared to the performance of a computer that uses a single processor. However, the operating system (OS) should be compatible with dual processor configuration, or the related software application will not work properly. The use of a dual processor considerably improves overall speed but does not double the processor's power.
- Multitasking: A key advantage when configuring a dual processor, this allows users to concurrently perform multiple tasks. For example, users may easily encode a video in the background while playing a video game or performing a graphic-rich task.
- Virtualization: Refers to the process of simultaneously running multiple OSs on a single computer. For example, OSs like Windows, Mac and Linux may be simultaneously used on the same system without rebooting. Virtualization is a performance-rich process that requires high processing speed. Using dual processors helps maintain normal computer speed, even though multiple OSs run at the same time.
