Stata/MP is a new version of Stata/SE that runs on multiprocessor computers. Stata/MP provides the most extensive support for multiple-processor computers and dual-core computers of any statistics and data-management package.

Stata/SE continues to be the top-of-the-line product for single-processor computers

The exciting thing about Stata/MP, and the only difference between Stata/MP and Stata/SE, is that Stata/MP runs faster—much faster. Stata/MP lets you analyze data in one-half to two-thirds of the time of Stata/SE on inexpensive, dual-core desktops. Stata/MP runs even faster on industrial-grade multiprocessor servers. Stata/MP supports up to 32 processors.

The graph below summarizes the performance differences between Stata/SE and Stata/MP:

In a perfect world, software would run twice as fast on two processors, three times faster on three processors, and so on. Stata/MP achieves 72% efficiency. It runs 1.4 times faster on two processors, 1.75 times faster on three processors, and 2 times faster on four processors. These values are median speed improvements.

Half the commands run even faster, and a few achieve performance even beyond what might be considered theoretically possible (more than twice as fast on two processors, etc.) because multiprocessor systems have multiple caches, too.

On the other side of the distribution, a few commands are not sped up at all, either because they are inherently sequential (time-series commands) or because no effort was made to parallelize them.

We worked hard to make sure that the performance gains for commands that take longer to run would be greater. Stata’s estimation commands achieve 88% efficiency. Estimation commands run 1.7 times faster on two CPUs, 2.3 times faster on three CPUs, and 2.8 times faster on four CPUs. Stata/MP supports up to 32 CPUs.

For a complete assessment of Stata/MP’s performance, including command-by-command statistics, see the white paper Stata/MP Performance Report (2.128KB)

Stata/MP is available for the following operating systems:

Windows (32- and 64-bit processors)
Macintosh OS X (Intel processors)
Linux (32- and 64-bit processors)
Solaris (64-bit SPARC)

To run Stata/MP, you can use a desktop computer with a dual-core processor or a server with multiple processors. Whether a computer has two separate processors or one dual-core makes no difference. More processors or cores means that Stata/MP will run faster.

For more advice on hardware, see the discussion of hardware for Stata/MP.