Silicon Graphics Answers Call for Data-Intensive Computing With SGI(R) Altix(R) ICE and Intel(R) Xeon(R) Processor 5500 Series (
31 March 2009 - 6:05AM
PR Newswire (US)
Massive Data Volumes No Match for Scalable, I/O-Centric Altix ICE
Platform and New Memory-Optimized Xeon Processors SUNNYVALE,
Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Silicon Graphics, Inc.
(SGI) today unveiled another solution for enterprises and
businesses with data-intensive computing environments who are
struggling to derive timely results and insights from ever-larger
volumes of data. Coinciding with today's worldwide launch of the
Intel(R) Xeon(R) processor 5500 series (code-named Nehalem),
Silicon Graphics announced it will feature the next-generation
processor in it's award-winning SGI(R) Altix(R) ICE integrated
blade platform. By integrating the scalable, I/O-intensive SGI
Altix ICE platform with the high-bandwidth memory design of the
Intel(R) Xeon(R) processor 5500 series, Silicon Graphics is
delivering a unique solution that helps organizations avoid the
costly performance inefficiencies that can occur when large data
sets and intense processing overwhelm the comparatively slow
memory, I/O and interconnect infrastructures of other commodity
Linux(R) clusters. "To remain competitive, users today require
their IT platforms to deliver results much sooner, even as their
applications increase in complexity and data sets grow
exponentially," said Silicon Graphics CEO Bo Ewald. "The SGI Altix
ICE platform is unique in its rich I/O infrastructure and
high-bandwidth interconnect design, which makes it an ideal
platform for solving big data problems with the new Intel(R)
Xeon(R) processor 5500 series." "Working with fast-growing data
volumes is a constant challenge for our application development
teams, whose work spans chemistry, materials (including
nanoscience) research, astrophysics, climate research, biology and
other disciplines," said Jeffrey Vetter, Future Technologies Group
Leader at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
which conducts state-of-the-art research and development in
emerging architectures and computational sciences. "Our early
evaluation of Nehalem demonstrated significant performance
improvements on many of our important applications. By harnessing
the power of SGI Altix ICE systems driven by Intel Nehalem
processors, we expect to shorten our time to results, which in turn
will give our users greater flexibility to pursue solutions to
complex, 'big data' problems." Performance soars by 140 percent
with unprecedented scalability The new system delivers reliably
scalable performance gains of up to 140 percent across a variety of
data-intensive applications, including the Fluent computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) application, the VASP Ab-Initio simulation,
and WRF weather modeling. -- Fluent. A 14-million-cell model of the
external flow of a truck body was tested on 64 cores of an Altix
ICE 8200EX with Intel(R) Xeon(R) processor 5500 series at 2.93GHz.
On the new SGI system, the test ran 1.59x faster than AMD Shanghai
at 2.7GHz and 1.73x faster than Altix ICE 8200EX with Intel(R)
Xeon(R) processor X5472 at 3.0GHz on 64 cores - with near linear
scalability. For a larger 111-million-cell model, the performance
improvement is even higher. Altix ICE 8200EX with Intel(R) Xeon(R)
processor 5500 series at 2.93GHz/1067 is 1.64x faster than AMD
Shanghai on 64 cores and 1.81x faster than Altix ICE 8200EX with
Intel(R) Xeon(R) X5472 3.0GHz on 128 cores. -- VASP. When running
the bench.PdO standard benchmark for the Vienna Ab-Initio
Simulation Package (VASP), the Altix ICE 8200EX with Intel(R)
Xeon(R) processor 5500 series at 2.93GHz on 32 cores is 1.95x
faster than the same system equipped with Intel(R) Xeon(R)
processors X5470 at 3.0GHz. -- WRF. The Weather Research and
Forecasting (WRF) model of the continental United States at 2.5km
resolution runs 2.4x faster on Altix ICE 8200EX with Intel(R)
Xeon(R) processor 5500 series at 2.93GHz on 128 cores than it does
on a similarly configured system featuring Intel(R) Xeon(R)
processors X5470 at 3.0GHz. "I am pleased to see the highly
scalable SGI Altix ICE platform extended to take advantage of the
new Intel (R) Xeon(R) 5500 series processor," said Richard Dracott,
Intel general manager of High Performance Computing. "This
combination will allow the deployment of even faster HPC
solutions." SGI Altix ICE 8200EX and SGI(R) Altix(R) XE systems
featuring the Intel(R) Xeon(R) processor 5500 series are available
today. For more information, visit
http://www.sgi.com/products/servers/altix/ice/ To download a
technical white paper detailing how this new platform delivers
leading performance for data-intensive applications, visit:
http://www.sgi.com/pdfs/4154.pdf. Silicon Graphics, Inc. Silicon
Graphics, Inc. (SGI), is a leader in high-performance computing.
SGI delivers a complete range of high-performance server and
storage solutions along with industry-leading professional services
and support that enable its customers to overcome the challenges of
complex data-intensive workflows and accelerate breakthrough
discoveries, innovation and information transformation. SGI
solutions help customers solve their computing challenges whether
it's enhancing the quality of life through drug research, designing
and manufacturing safer and more efficient cars and airplanes,
studying global climate, providing technologies for homeland
security and defense, or helping enterprises manage large data.
With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale,
California, and can be found on the Web at http://www.sgi.com/. (C)
2009 SGI. All rights reserved. Silicon Graphics, SGI , the Silicon
Graphics, Altix and the SGI logo are registered trademarks of SGI
in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. Intel and
Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel
Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other
countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property
of their respective owners. This news release contains
forward-looking statements regarding SGI technologies and
third-party technologies that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual
results to differ materially from those described in such
statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely unduly on these
forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future or
current performance. Such risks and uncertainties include long-term
program commitments, the performance of third parties, the
sustained performance of current and future products, financing
risks, the ability to integrate and support a complex technology
solution involving multiple providers and users, and other risks
detailed from time to time in the company's most recent SEC
reports, including its reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. CONTACT:
Lisa Provenzano 408-524-6980 DATASOURCE: Silicon Graphics, Inc.
CONTACT: Lisa Provenzano of Silicon Graphics, Inc.,
+1-408-524-6980, Web Site: http://www.sgi.com/
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