IBM and Intel inaugurated in Israel an international center for demonstrating cloud computing and supercomputing

The center will be used to present new technologies in the field of cloud computing and parallel computing, and will allow conducting comparative experiments, testing software applications and certifying systems and working on infrastructures produced by IBM that integrate Intel processors

IBM and Intel inaugurated an international innovation center for demonstration and experience in cloud computing applications and working in a massively parallel computing (HPC) environment in systems based on Intel processors.
The new center that opened at the IBM House in Petah Tikva, was established by a joint initiative of IBM Israel and Intel with an initial investment estimated at half a million dollars and is part of an international network of such centers, operating at IBM sites and serving the company's business partners and customers.
The center will be used to present new technologies in the field of cloud computing and parallel computing, and will allow conducting comparative experiments, testing software applications and certifying systems and working on infrastructures made by IBM that integrate Intel processors. The center will be at the disposal of independent software developers (ISV's), business partners of IBM, customers, as well as software developers and partners of IBM abroad who would like to use its services.
The equipment in the new center is based on unique IBM and Intel technologies, including iDataplex parallel processing systems, BladeCenter servers, and IBM eX5 servers, equipped with the new generation of Intel Westmere processors. The demonstration activity includes communication systems from IBM and Israeli Melnox, in Infiniband and 10Gb standards, virtualization systems and server consolidation from NextIO, virtualization solutions for cloud computing from RedHat, the Israeli ScaleMP, and VMware. Alongside the servers in the innovation center, IBM storage systems operate in a variety of architectures and communication methods.
At the event to mark the launch of the center's activities, in which guests from IBM and Intel in Europe, business partners and experts participated, Meir Nissenson, CEO of IBM Israel, said that the collaboration between IBM and Intel, which led to the establishment of the innovation center, will contribute both to the Israeli market and to the local industry, which also to export markets. "The promotion of the use of cloud computing technologies in the State of Israel, which is made possible by the availability of the resources offered at the center, ushers the Israeli information technology industry into a new era," Nissenson stated.
Peter Gleissner, a member of Intel's management in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who came to the inauguration of the center, noted that the Israeli market and the State of Israel are getting an opportunity here to bring the innovation and innovation capabilities of the local industry together with the news of IBM and Intel, into one combination of solutions for the Israeli market – as well as far beyond the local market. According to him, "the domain of the computing cloud, private and public, creates an opportunity first of all to optimize the private cloud, while integrating innovative software manufacturers together with the capabilities of IBM, in order to offer unique opportunities for business savings". According to Sinai Barkat, CEO of Intel Semiconductors in Israel, the work of the center expresses the close cooperation between the two companies over the years. Barkat points out that the cloud phenomenon creates a growing demand for Intel-based servers, beyond the usual increase in demand.
Noam Rosen, manager of the System x servers unit, which leads the project at IBM, stated that:
"Managers in organizations today understand that technological preparation for the coming years requires working in a cloud environment - and are looking for the best partners for this purpose. IBM sees cloud computing as a central arena for advancement

The innovation and efficiency and offers a basket of cloud services and solutions, from the definition phase to the establishment and management.
Already this year we will see more and more applications move to cloud computing on servers based on Intel processors"

Another guest who participated in the inauguration of the center in the IBM building in Petah Tikva was Brian Hamel, vice president of IBM, head of the technological systems group at IBM Europe. Hamel said that the success of the center will be measured by the scope of use by business partners and customers who will take advantage of the tools and technological-professional assistance that IBM makes available to them in this framework - in order to test solutions, compare capabilities and performances and adapt new systems for their use. "IBM makes sure to offer its customers the opportunity to actually test and get an impression of the advanced technologies it develops, while accurately simulating work in real time - either in an installation to prove capability at the customer's site, or in an innovation center on the IBM site, linked via the cloud to the customer's systems," Hamel pointed out. "The relationship with Intel is an important layer in building the value that IBM brings to the entire market: the establishment of the center reflects the investment of the two companies in cloud computing, their system of strategic relationships, and the absolute commitment to cloud technologies on the one hand - and the Israeli market on the other."