| Contents November 2006 |
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| Industry
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HPCN industry |
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| Bull unveils NovaScale blade servers boosted by the new Dual-Core Intel Xeon 5100 processor |
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Bull unveils the new NovaScale B260 and B280 blade servers based on the Dual-Core Intel Xeon 5100 - previously codenamed Woodcrest. These new servers benefit from lower thermal design power, using Intel Demand-based switching (DBS) with Enhanced Speedstep technology.
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| Cray's Third Annual Technical Workshop in Europe to focus on new supercomputing advances and future products |
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The Cray Technical Workshop Europe 2006 will be held October 10-12 at St. Catherine's College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Hosted by AWE in the U.K., the third annual Cray Technical Workshop in Europe will provide a forum where users of Cray supercomputers can exchange information about the latest advances in high performance computing and related scientific and engineering applications. Cray representatives will also give participants a preview of future enhancements to Cray systems and discuss products currently under development.
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| NSF awards Texas Advanced Computing Center $59 million for high-performance computing |
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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has made a five-year, $59 million award to the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin and its partners at Arizona State University and Cornell University to acquire, operate and support a high-performance computing system that will provide unprecedented computational power to the United States' scientists and engineers.
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| ATI pioneers new Stream Computing technology |
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ATI is pioneering a new technology known as Stream Computing, that has the potential to dramatically impact almost every sector of the market. Along with leading companies and academic institutions worldwide, ATI is working to build a stream computing ecosystem, one that delivers the performance, applications, software and tools necessary to turn ATI's vision into reality.
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| ATI launches enterprise stream computing initiatives |
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Recognizing the tremendous value that accelerated processing holds for businesses around the world, ATI Technologies Inc. has launched initiatives around enterprise stream computing, dedicated to driving commercial adoption of stream computing, initially targeting the US$9 billion high performance computing market. Along with software platform provider PeakStream Inc., ATI is working to address the technical computing demands of energy, financial, defense and research organizations around the world, to give them the ability to arrive at detailed answers in significantly less time in order to make faster, better informed business decisions. ATI is also working with AMD to develop a co-processing platform based on AMD's Torrenza initiative.
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| Mitrionics and SGI demonstrate latest FPGA supercomputing advancements at MAPLD Conference |
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Mitrionics Inc., developer of the Mitrion Virtual Processor and software-centric Mitrion-C programming language for FPGA Supercomputing acceleration, exhibited its industry-leading supercomputing application acceleration platform at the MAPLD conference September 26-28, 2006 in Washington, DC. Mitrionics demonstrated the Mitrion Platform and Mitrion Virtual Processor on the SGI RASC RC100 computation blade in the SGI Altix family of servers. As the two companies in FPGA Supercomputing and close partners, Mitrionics and SGI work together on a number of activities including mutual customer development/support, joint sales and marketing events, customer application development, and product integration.
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| NetEffect and Ciara Technologies announce collaborative efforts |
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NetEffect, specialized in next generation Ethernet connectivity solutions, is collaborating with Ciara Technologies, a provider of high-density rack-mounted servers and clusters. This collaboration demonstrates the power of Ciara's Intel-based VXRACK product combined with the high-bandwidth, low-latency of NetEffect's 10Gb iWARP Ethernet channel adapter (ECA). Ciara's VXRACK family of high-density, rack-mounted servers features the latest Intel processors for faster, energy efficient processing. Through this joint effort, Ciara is able to demonstrate the way in which its customers can achieve 10Gb per second performance while leveraging the benefits of the ubiquitous Ethernet standard.
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| VXTECH announces FUSION 1200 SMP system based on Intel Xeon processor technology |
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VXTECH, a division of Ciara Technologies, a global system integrator and servers manufacturer, has launched FUSION 1200 Server Series, a high performance, shared-memory SMP system, based on Intel Xeon 5100/5300 processors sequence and ScaleMP versatile SMP (vSMP) architecture. Designed to provide a cost-effective alternative to traditional SMP servers, VXTECH's FUSION 1200 is designed to achieve optimal performance for High Performance Technical Computing applications, while providing unparalleled ease of deployment, management and maintenance.
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| ORNL's Jaguar fastest for fusion turbulence simulations |
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Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Cray XT3 supercomputer, known as Jaguar, has become the fastest system in the world for running the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's (PPPL's) flagship code for studying plasma microturbulence in fusion reactors.
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| QLogic to acquire Silverstorm Technologies |
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QLogic Corporation, specialized in Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), stackable switches and blade server switches, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SilverStorm Technologies Inc. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the company will pay approximately $60 million in cash. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is expected to close following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Based on current projections, the company anticipates that the acquisition of SilverStorm will be neutral to its non-GAAP earnings per share for fiscal year 2007. The company will provide additional details regarding the acquisition during its second quarter fiscal 2007 earnings conference scheduled for October 24, 2006.
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| SC06 Conference advance registration deadline is Sunday, October 15 |
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With the SC2006 conference less than two months away, there are two compelling reasons to register now for the Technical Programme and Tutorials, and to reserve a hotel room. SC06 is the premier international conference on high performance computing, networking, data storage and analysis. Under the theme "Powerful Beyond Imagination", SC06 will be held November 11-17, 2006, in Tampa, Florida.
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| SGI Altix XE Cluster solution offers simplicity, advanced software environment at no extra cost to users |
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Responding to demand for Linux cluster computing solutions that are easy to manage but still offer industry-leading scalability and performance, SGI has launched sweeping enhancements to its recently debuted SGI Altix XE cluster offering. With the SGI Altix XE 1200 Cluster Solution, SGI makes it easier than ever to select, deploy and manage Linux clusters. The customizable, factory-integrated solutions, which offer a selection of interconnect choices including Gigabit Ethernet and Voltaire InfiniBand, feature a newly enhanced cluster software environment that offers distinct cost and convenience advantages over traditional piece-built commodity clusters.
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| IBM DB2 9 data server wins new customers and sets benchmark record |
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Just two months after its launch, the DB2 9 data server is rapidly gaining new customers and setting industry benchmark performance records. DB2 9 - code named "Viper" - is IBM's new data server that incorporates the most significant database technology enhancements introduced to the industry in more than two decades.
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| IBM previews IDS "Cheetah" data server |
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IBM has unveiled details of the next-generation Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) data server - code-named "Cheetah". IDS, a key element of IBM's Information Management portfolio, is a relational data server that delivers exceptionally fast OLTP performance, high reliability and near hands-free administration.
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| DARPA awards grant to improve chip-making process |
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Carnegie Mellon University has been awarded a six-year, $4.2 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create a new type of reconfigurable integrated circuit for chip manufacturers.
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| NEC to launch new SX series model, SX-8R, the world's fastest vector supercomputer |
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NEC Corporation has launched a new supercomputer in the SX series, model SX-8R - an enhanced version of SX-8, the world's most powerful vector supercomputer with a peak vector performance of 144 Tflop/s.
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| European HPC in need of Pepping-up |
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The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), UK, hosted an excellent HPC Europe Workshop at St Catherine's college, Oxford. This interactive workshop discussed issues of concern to Europeans working in the HPC area. It brought together top experts in HPC - restricted to less than 10 from each European country - to share intelligence and develop common strategies, hoping to collectively leverage future directions of European HPC. Invitations to speak or attend were made by a country representative who also advised on the agenda. This year, about 80 delegates attended from within both the customer and supplier segments. Non-European vendors were present only for the last sessions. (Chris Lazou)
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| University of Florida and Honeywell engineers building first space supercomputer |
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Engineering researchers at the University of Florida (UF) and Honeywell Aerospace are designing and building the computer projected to operate as much as 100 times faster than any computer in space today. Expected to be launched aboard a NASA rocket on a test mission in 2009, the computer is needed to process rapidly increasing amounts of data gathered by advanced scientific satellites. It is also needed to help space probes make more rapid decisions by themselves, independently of their Earth-bound minders.
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| A new supercomputer enables new kinds of research |
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CSC, the Finnish IT centre for science, acquires a new supercomputer system, which means a significant leap in performance of computer resources available for Finnish researchers. The new system enables new kinds of research and increases accuracy of current simulation models. At the same time CSC extends its super-cluster system as well. The purchase is totally funded by the Ministry of Education and the equipment will remain the property of the Finnish state under the possession of the Ministry of Education.
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| Sun Microsystems revamps "Galaxy" line of Sun Fire servers |
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Sun announced its "Galaxy" line of Sun Fire x64 (x86, 64-bit) servers powered by Next-Generation AMD Opteron processors and the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), the most advanced operating system on the planet. The Sun Fire X4100 M2, Sun Fire X4200 M2 and Sun Fire X4600 M2 servers with on-chip virtualization support set new standards for reliability and energy efficiency. Sun was the first vendor to ship systems powered by the latest AMD Opteron processors with the release of the Sun Fire X2100 M2 and Sun Fire X2200 M2 servers in August.
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| DataDirect Networks powers Department of Defense Technology Initiative at US Army Research Laboratory |
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DataDirect Networks has shipped 4 of its latest 7th generation S2A9500 Series high performance storage cluster solutions, totaling 260 TB, to the US Army Research Laboratory Major Shared Resource Center (ARL MSRC) as part of the US Department of Defense (DoD) High Performance Computing Modernization Programme (HPCMP) Technology Insertion 2006 (TI-06) initiative.
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| Twenty-two projects keep supercomputer super busy |
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With 54 teraflops of computing power, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Cray XT3 is helping solve scientific grand challenges, but scheduling the many research projects and keeping the massive machine operating at peak capacity are challenges of their own. The Cray, known as Jaguar, requires a complex infrastructure that can cool more than 5000 dual-core processors; ensure reliable power; maintain optimum operation; and accommodate future expansion.
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| Top research labs tap Star-P to boost scientific and engineering productivity |
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Since the launch of high-tech start-up Interactive Supercomputing (ISC) nearly a year ago, more than two dozen organisations have already adopted the company's Star-P software for solving some of the world's greatest scientific and engineering challenges. Star-P is an interactive parallel computing platform that enables users to code algorithms and models on their desktops using familiar mathematical software packages such as MathWorks' MATLAB and run them instantly and interactively on parallel high performance computers (HPCs).
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| Tyan Computer presents the Tyan PSC Typhoon for high performance computing |
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Tyan Computer Corporation had developed a new cluster-base HPC product line that provides supercomputing performance in constrained and other non-traditional environments. Tyan is building on its excellent reputation as an HPC motherboard provider by launching a new business unit called TyanPSC to market and sell the TyanPSC Typhoon series of Personal Supercomputers.
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| Speed is the name of the game for researchers |
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Cutting-edge computer technology designed for use in game consoles like the PlayStation 3 will power complex research software at the University of Manchester. Academics in several scientific and engineering fields will use IBM's latest powerful hardware to run a range of scientific and engineering programmes.
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| Critical to support NetEffect's iWARP Ethernet channel adapters in their popular WMPI II Message Passing library |
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Critical Software and NetEffect have signed a partnership whereby Critical will support NetEffect's iWARP Ethernet Channel Adapters in their popular WMPI II Message Passing library. This will enable the High Performance Cluster (HPC) community to run compute intensive applications that use MPI for parallel processing over a cluster of Windows or Linux servers, connected by NetEffect cards.
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| Northrop Grumman delivers high performance computing solution for improved hurricane forecasting |
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Northrop Grumman, in partnership with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Intel and Silicon Graphics, , has delivered a unique high performance computing solution to NASA to improve hurricane forecasts. NASA will use the solution for its African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign.
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| SGI unveils Scientific Workflow Solution designed to let researchers focus on science, not computing |
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At the J. Craig Venter Genomes, Medicine and the Environment Conference, SGI unveiled the SGI Scientific Workflow Solution. Comprised of some of the world's most powerful, scalable and flexible technologies, the new solution is aimed at simplifying the complex task of conducting breakthrough scientific research by accommodating the various ways in which scientists work.
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| SilverStorm selects NetXen 10-Gigabit Ethernet technology for world's highest-capacity InfiniBand cluster interconnect system |
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SilverStorm is using NetXen NX2031 silicon devices to implement high-performance 10GbE interfaces for its SilverStorm 9000 series of Multi-Protocol Fabric Directors. These systems deliver a total switching capacity of 11.52 Tb/s, making them the industry's highest-capacity single-chassis cluster interconnect system. The flexible 9000 series platform provides multi-protocol support using switch modules for InfiniBand SDR, InfiniBand DDR and Virtual I/O Controller modules for Fibre Channel and 10GbE. The new Ethernet Virtual I/O Controller (VIC) modules will use NetXen NX2031 Intelligent NIC devices.
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| SC06 announces HPC Analytics Challenge Finalists |
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At the SC06 international conference on high performance computing, networking, data storage and analysis, three teams will compete in the HPC Analytics Challenge to demonstrate their capabilities in using advanced data analysis techniques to solve complex, real-world problems.
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| Terra Soft and Sony to build world's first Cell cluster |
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