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I have the 64-bit Implementation of the SAS System, Release 8.2, installed. What do I need to know? The following document applies only to the 64-bit implementations that became available for the first time with Release 8.2 of SAS on AIX, HPUX, and Solaris. These limitations do not apply to SAS Release 8.2 on Compaq Tru64 Unix. The main advantage is that the 64-bit implementation of 8.2 takes advantage of the expanded architecture of your 64-bit hardware and operating system. If you have SAS applications that use large amounts of memory, you may see improved performance because this implementation enables them to draw upon increased memory resources. We believe that the sites that would gain the most from installing the 64-bit implementation are ones where users run applications that require tremendous amounts of memory. Additionally, if you use large MDDB cubes, you may find the 64-bit implementation more satisfactory. The increased memory may also be used to increase data set buffers to optimize I/O performance. Installing and becoming accustomed to using the 64-bit implementation of 8.2 will also allow you to upgrade more quickly to Version 9, due to be released in 2002. V9 will be available only as a 64-bit release.
Yes, you can. Internally, a temporary conversion is performed on 32-bit SAS data sets so that they can be used by the 64-bit implementation. While this conversion is transparent to the application, it can result in lower performance. Setting the SAS system option MSGLEVEL=I will generate an informative message in the SAS Log whenever these conversions are performed. This will allow you to locate data sets that need to be converted.
Version 8 SAS catalogs are not compatible between the 64-bit and 32-bit implementations. You must use the CPORT and CIMPORT procedures to convert the catalogs before they can be used. You should note that 64-bit and 32-bit SAS catalogs share the same file extension of .sas7bcat, so you must take care to keep them separate on your system to avoid confusion. (You can download this
Because 64-bit applications from other software vendors are still being developed, many of the corresponding SAS/ACCESS products are not yet available. Check the
The V6 LIBNAME engine does not exist in the 64-bit implementation, so you cannot access SAS data sets or catalogs that were created using Version 6 until you convert them. Any Version 6 data set or catalog must be converted to V8 format before it can be used with the 64-bit implementation of 8.2. Some algorithms have not been tuned for 64-bit implementation. In particular, the addr() and peek() functions have been replaced by the addrlong() and peeklong() functions, respectively, and can be used with both the 32-bit and 64-bit implementations. For further information, click
SAS data sets tend, in general, to be larger under the 64-bit implementation than under the 32-bit implementation when compressed. Therefore, we advise you to perform benchmarks on your data to determine if this will be an issue for you.
Perhaps. This will depend heavily upon your application.
Not at this time.
That will be a feature of Version 9, a release that will be offered only as a 64-bit implementation.
They can use the Unix file command. SAS Note 4421 explains how to interpret the output from the command. Alternatively, you can use the SYSSCP macro variable to determine which implementation you are running: %put &sysscp; Note that while you can run the 32-bit implementation of SAS 8.2 on 64-bit architecture, you cannot run the 64-bit implementation on a 32-bit machine. To run the 64-bit implementation, you must have a 64-bit operating system and 64-bit hardware installed. If you choose to also install the 32-bit implementation on the same machine, you must take care to maintain the 2 implementations separately.
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