ACADEMIA

LOS ANGELES, CA - PSSC Labs announced the completion and delivery of their 250th Linux-based Beowulf cluster. The company, which has built NASA's largest Intel/Linux cluster named Thunderhead, a 536-processor weather modeling system, continues to develop innovative supercomputing solutions for the world's most demanding research institutions and corporations. As a long-term provider to the open source computing community, PSSC Labs clusters have been at the forefront of advanced supercomputing solutions. "Clustering is now recognized as a less expensive and more reliable way to conduct research," asserts Alex Lesser, PSSC Labs Vice President. "Our clusters continue to provide scientists with the power they need at a fraction of the cost of traditional supercomputers." PSSC Labs clusters are used in several diverse computing environments on important projects involving: computational fluid dynamics; quantum chemistry; oil and gas exploration; signal processing; genetic research; weather modeling; rendering farms and visualization walls. Stated Peter Bucklin, Administrative Computing Manager at the University of California at Irvine, "You can not find a better computer company. PSSC is not like any other computer company I have dealt with. They are friendly, responsive and will exhaust all resources to find the answers to my questions. If that wasn't enough, their prices are extremely competitive compared to other vendors." The company, which has extensive experience in building advanced supercomputing clusters has developed an optimal cluster software environment which is custom-configured for each end user's specific needs. The company's typical cluster installation includes: setup of the operating system including a custom kernel for performance optimization; message-passing and scientific software libraries; high performance compiler suites; custom scripts for node reboot; power off & file copy across the cluster; cluster monitoring utility and graphical user interface tools; security patches; remote installation/update of software across the network; batch scheduling system and processor temperature/fan monitoring utilities. Additionally, PSSC Labs configures each cluster with an industry-unique DVD bootable recovery disk that provides a level of back up that is unparalleled by other vendors. Each cluster ships with a custom user manual with complete instructions on using, maintaining and upgrading the cluster. "We're proud that word-of-mouth in the open source community has been responsible in building our business. We have a great group of customers and frequently, they are our best salespeople," said Lesser. Clients: PSSC Labs has delivered advanced supercomputing clusters to the following organizations: Universities: Harvard MIT Stanford Columbia Carnegie Mellon Dartmouth Northwestern Purdue Penn State Rutgers Syracuse Stevens Institute Tufts UC Berkeley UC Los Angeles UC Irvine UC San Francisco UC San Diego UC Davis U of Alaska U of Alabama U of Arizona U of Colorado U of Delaware U of North Carolina U of Nevada U of Florida U of Iowa U of Maryland U of Michigan U of New Hampshire U of Nevada U of North Texas U of Pittsburgh U or Rhode Island U of Sciences in PA U of Southern California U of South Carolina U of Tennessee U of Virginia U of Wisconsin U of Washington Arizona State Benedictine Boston Cal State Fullerton City University of New York Marquette New York University Northeastern Old Dominion Penn State Rice San Jose State San Francisco State Virginia Commonwealth West Virginia Governmental Agencies: NASA Dryden Flight Research NASA Goddard Space Center NASA Jet Propulsion Labs NASA Johnson Space Center NASA Marshall Space Flight Center NASA Langley Research Center Los Alamos National Labs Sandia National Labs Argonne National Labs Battelle National Labs Lawrence Berkeley Labs MIT Lincoln Labs Oak Ridge National Labs Federal Lab US Dept of Defense US Army Air Battle Maneuver Lab US Naval Night Vision Lab US Naval Research Lab US Naval Surface Warfare Center US Arnold Air Force Base US Edwards Air Force Base US Elgin Air Force Base US Dept of Agriculture US Center for Disease Control US Geological Service NOAA AURA Desert Research Institute Center for Genome Research National Institute of Health Space Telescope Science Institute Private Sector: Abbott Labs Northrop Grumman Hughes Research Labs Hitachi Data Systems ITT Aerospace Rockwell Science Center Computer Sciences Corp. SAIC Texas Instruments Lucent General Dynamics Raytheon Ryan Aero Logicon Navair Wyle Electronics Variagenics British Airways Surebeam Concurrent Pharmaceuticals Fibertek Gorilla Genomics ILOG PhotonEX Dunn Capital 3D Imaging Express Auto Parts Secure Logic Simpletech Booz Allen Hamilton Fibertek Dillon Supply CS & S Computers