Yet, the most reliable services people use every day run on x86. It's not "really bad".
>due to its complexity
I don't see the complexity of the instruction set causing downtime. Compilers abstract 99% of it away.
>due to obtrusive (SMM mode), non-auditable firmware.
I've never seen SMM mode cause down time, nor have I had the non-auditability of the firmware caus me down time. These are low level things that are a part of how the CPU works. When you are working at a high level you can just ignore them for the most part. For reliability you are always going to need to be able to handle bad chips due to manufacturing defects once you are operating at scale.
> I've never seen SMM mode cause down time, nor have I had the non-auditability of the firmware caus me down time.
Hyperscalers (OCP) pushing for coreboot and LinuxBoot have probably different experience. AFAIK they hate SMM especially with SMI handlers coming form unknown source.
Not saying SMI latency is huge problem in industrial applications like CNC.
>Yet, the most reliable services people use every day run on x86. It's not "really bad".
When reliability is paramount (e.g. pacemakers), x86 is naturally avoided.
>I don't see the complexity of the instruction set causing downtime. Compilers abstract 99% of it away.
Complexity of the ISA affects the whole system. It breeds bugs not just in hardware, but also in operating systems and toolchains. These can affect reliability.
>I've never seen SMM mode cause down time
I have. With SMM, the rug is pulled under the OS's feet. Your CPU can be taken away at any time, for any unexplained reason, without prior warning, and for an undetermined amount of time.
I have seen SMM cause spikes of latency breaking pro audio pipelines, and I have seen SMM grab a CPU and not return it.
Yet, the most reliable services people use every day run on x86. It's not "really bad".
>due to its complexity
I don't see the complexity of the instruction set causing downtime. Compilers abstract 99% of it away.
>due to obtrusive (SMM mode), non-auditable firmware.
I've never seen SMM mode cause down time, nor have I had the non-auditability of the firmware caus me down time. These are low level things that are a part of how the CPU works. When you are working at a high level you can just ignore them for the most part. For reliability you are always going to need to be able to handle bad chips due to manufacturing defects once you are operating at scale.