Germany's National Computing Center (LRZ) purchased an HPC system and SGI storage solution for $50 million * The new Linux system will include 3,328 dual-core Intel Itanium 2 processors, and will enhance the center's computational capacity
Avi Blizovsky
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The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW) has chosen Silicon Graphics' new generation of Linux 3700 Bx2 ® Altix ® SGI systems to support Germany's new national supercomputer system. The new system, which will eventually include 3,328 dual-core Intel Itanium 2 processors, will be able to perform 69 trillion calculations per second, thus enhancing the computational capacity of the German Computation Center (LRZ) in BadW. As part of the project, the calculation center will also deploy a huge storage solution based on InfiniteStorage ® SGI with a volume of 660 terabytes, to manage its rapidly growing scientific data base.
SGI's revenue for hardware and services from this contract is expected to total more than $50 million. The German government and the state of Bavaria will jointly finance the HLRB-II project in which SGI outbid competitors from around the world.
"This powerful technology allows us to respond to the needs of researchers throughout Germany, who strive to achieve breakthroughs in physics and astrophysics, materials research, movement of fluids, chemistry, earth sciences and biological sciences," says Dr. Heinz-Gard Gering, chairman LRZ Board of Directors. "The acquisition of the SGI Altix gives LRZ one of the largest systems in the world with shared memory, a fact that will attract to LRZ, scientists and users who currently have difficulty coping with the high simulation requirements using traditional servers or clusters."
After searching the world for powerful computing technology and examining several competing systems, LRZ decided that the SGI Altix would provide the best long-term performance even for running a routine day-to-day application mix. According to LRZ, the global shared memory structure of the Altix architecture is a huge advantage in dealing with computational problems. They intend to leverage the capabilities of the new system, so that it will be divided into computing nodes
many virtual ones.
"Using the Altix, it is much easier to design several codes of processes at the same time, which means that more users of the system will give a higher output than was previously possible", says Hagering. "Flexibility and ease of use were important to us in the system selection process."
LRZ, one of the largest computing centers in Germany, sees the new HLRB-II system as a differentiator. "LRZ makes great efforts to provide academic communities in Germany and Europe with the best performing computing services," says Gering. "This also refers to productivity in daily activity in all fields of science - biochemistry, medicine, physics, but also research in the field of self-computing. The SGI Altix system will allow us to take part in an era of innovation".
In addition to this system, SGI will provide LRZ with a 128-processor SGI Altix system equipped with 512GB memory and connected to the SGI InfiniteStorage solution with a volume of 11 terabytes. This system will replace the Fujitsu-Siemens Vector system in 2005. The combination of the 128-processor SGI Altix system with the storage unit will be used mainly for calculations in the field of chemistry, calculations in physics and fluid dynamics.
The implementation of the Linux system is planned for the beginning of 2006. The new system will include 40 terabytes of available memory and will be combined with 660 terabytes for storage. This system will replace LRZ's current system, the Hitachi SR8000, and will be upgraded to its final configuration in 2007. Once installed, the new system will serve as a platform for researchers in vortices, currents, production and propagation of sound waves, conduction at high temperatures and the structure of changeable materials as well as research on chemical reactions and earthquakes.
"Customers all over the world have embraced Altix as the foundation for a high-performance, cost-effective computing environment that delivers the performance needed for the new sciences," says Dave Parry, group director of servers and platforms at SGI. "We are proud that LRZ chose SGI Altix solutions
and InfiniteStorage to add a touch of innovation to the German scientific community."
"We are excited about this large and significant project in Munich that SGI won a few months after winning NASA's Columbia project, the second largest computing body in the world," says Avi Telwacker, director of the enterprise platforms group at Intel. "With the help of Intel's support, SGI leverages the capabilities of the Itanium processor, not only in terms of general speed but by combining thousands of processors within a single node with memory sharing capabilities."
About SGI (Silicon Graphics)
SGI - Silicon Graphics (SGI:NYSE) is a global leader in high performance computing, advanced visualization and storage solutions. SGI's vision is to provide technology that makes it possible to achieve the most significant scientific and creative breakthroughs of the 21st century. Whether it is imaging for brain surgery, more efficient oil discovery, the study of the climate on Earth, technologies for the military and national security, or a transition from analog to digital transmission, SGI's goal is to answer the next generation of challenges facing users in the fields of science, planning and the creation.
SGI has branches around the world and its headquarters are located in Mountain View California. www.sgi.com
SGI Israel was established in 1988 by the global SGI company as a wholly owned subsidiary. The company deals in marketing, sales, support and maintenance of servers, workstations and storage solutions. Among the company's clients are some of the leading entities in Israel, in the industrial and engineering sector such as research and higher education institutions, the IDF, defense industries, and companies in the fields of science, bioinformatics, medicine and entertainment. www.sgi.co.il
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