New Silicon Graphics Line Seeks to Bolster Linux
Dow Jones Business News
Tuesday January 7, 12:58 am ET
Silicon Graphics Inc. (NYSE:SGI - News) said it has developed hardware and software that significantly extend the ability of the Linux operating system to handle the toughest scientific computing tasks, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported.
The Mountain View, Calif., computer maker is introducing a family of server systems that allow as many as 64 of Intel Corp.'s Itanium 2 microprocessor chips to share a single pool of memory, roughly four times as many processors as current Linux-based supercomputers. Under some circumstances, a pool of data could be shared by multiple 64-processor systems, allowing hundreds or thousands of processors to be clustered together into large supercomputers, SGI said.
Some laboratories now construct supercomputers using huge numbers of Linux- based systems, but the processors typically don't share memory. As a result, the systems must pass data back and forth in ways that reduce efficiency in completing some scientific calculations, such as global-climate prediction and wind-tunnel simulation, said Greg Estes, vice president of marketing at SGI.
The company is hoping to recapture market share in supercomputers, where it has lost ground in recent years to rivals including International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - News), Armonk, N.Y., and Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif. At prices ranging from $70,176 to $1.13 million, Mr. Estes said computers in SGI's Altix 3000 family offer roughly twice the performance of comparable IBM machines for half the price.
Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter Don Clark contributed to this report.
Dow Jones Newswires
01-07-03 0058ET
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