nA computer with multiple processors
nEach processor can perform the same functions and share same main memory and I/O facilities (symmetric)
nThe OS schedule
processes/threads across all the processors
(real parallelisme)
nExistence of
multiple processors is transparent to the
user.
nIncremental growth: just add another CPU!
nRobustness: a single CPU failure does not halt the system, only the performance is reduced.