64-Bit FME

64-bit FME is not for everyone, but used in the right place it can have tremendous benefits.

What is 64-bit FME?

A 32-bit operating system is capable of using memory addresses up to 232. This limits them to using a maximum of 4 gigabytes of system memory.

A 64-bit operating system can use memory addresses up to 264. This allows them to use a theoretical maximum of 16 billion gigabytes of memory! In practice, a 64-bit system uses nowhere near that much memory, but it still allows 64-bit software to access a much greater amount of additional memory than 32-bit.

64-bit FME is a version of FME specifically designed to take advantage of a 64-bit operating system. It is well-suited to processing very large amounts of data, due to its ability to use a greater amount of memory.


What are the Disadvantages of 64-bit?

There are a number of disadvantages to using 64-bit FME.

Operating System

64-bit FME requires a 64-bit operating system and the hardware to support it. On a 32-bit operating system you would only be able to run 32-bit FME.

Format Limitations

Not every format in FME is supported on 64-bit. Usually that’s because the format itself – or its proprietary software – isn’t available on 64-bit platforms. In that situation you would need to use 32-bit FME.

64-bit Clients

Not a limitation, but 64-bit does require care in selecting the correct database clients; for example when reading 64-bit Oracle you’ll need to install a special 64-bit client for FME to be able to connect.


Jake Speedie says…
Hi, I'm Jake Speedie and I'm here to power you through this section on FME performance.

The Safe Software web site has a table of supported formats that can be filtered to show (among other things) which are supported on 64-bit:


Miss Vector says…
Let's see if you can figure out the one false statement from these facts about 64-bit FME:

1. 32-bit Windows can use only 32-bit FME. 64-bit Windows can use either 32-bit or 64-bit FME
2. You can install both 32-bit and 64-bit FME on a 64-bit computer, and use either one as necessary
3. You can install 32-bit and 64-bit engines on the same FME Server core
4. A workspace authored on 32-bit FME cannot be run on a 64-bit engine

results matching ""

    No results matching ""