APPLICATIONS

TORONTO -- Platform Computing today announced that the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), one of the world's foremost research labs, is using Platform LSF 5, the industry's premier solution for building Enterprise Grids, to power groundbreaking research into the origins of the universe. Platform LSF 5 will deliver the mammoth compute power that SLAC's Linear Accelerator needs to process the data associated with intense high-energy physics research, with the ultimate goal of answering fundamental questions about the forces and matter in the universe. SLAC is using Platform LSF 5 to harness the full strength of its Enterprise Grid compute resources supporting the Linear Accelerator, which powers high-energy physics research into matter/antimatter charge parity (CP) violations. These violations are believed to be the scientific cause of the dominance of matter over antimatter, allowing the universe to come into existence after the "Big Bang." A Platform customer for eight years, SLAC provided Platform with valuable input to create Platform LSF 5, the most powerful iteration of Platform LSF software to date. With Platform LSF 5, SLAC can now manage its heterogeneous AFS Solaris/Linux clusters comprising over 2,700 CPUs, making it easy for applications to utilize the aggregate power of individual nodes, and accelerating the exponential numbers of 'what if' particle collision scenarios conducted by over 3,000 visiting scientists. "Scientists around the world rely on SLAC's two-mile long Linear Accelerator to power Nobel Prize-winning research," said Edwin Russell, computer systems specialist, SLAC. "This cutting-edge science demands the ultimate in computing performance. Platform consulted closely with SLAC to yield Platform LSF 5, which enables us to drive our computing resource utilization levels to almost 100 percent. This collaboration represented a union of some of the best minds in science and technology. In addition, one particularly impressive feat was the development of new cross-queue fairshare scheduling capabilities, which enable SLAC to meet the complex needs of our rapidly growing research team, providing transparent user access to our computing resources." Contracted and funded by the United States Department of Energy, SLAC's mission is to design, construct and operate state-of-the-art electron accelerators and related experimental facilities for use in high-energy physics, astrophysics and synchroton radiation research. Recognized internationally, SLAC supports the research of 3,000 visiting scientists from United States universities, national laboratories, industrial concerns and foreign countries. SLAC represents the latest addition to Platform's impressive list of customers using Platform LSF to power high-energy physics research, including BNL, CERN and SGI Cosmo Grid. Together, these customers validate Platform LSF 5 as the preferred solution for leading-edge high-energy physics research. "Platform is extremely excited to be involved in groundbreaking research that is unearthing answers to questions that have intrigued mankind for thousands of years," said Rene' Copeland, vice president, life sciences and government, Platform. "SLAC's deployment of Platform LSF 5 provides them with a strong, stable, and scalable foundation for this incredibly compute- intensive work, fully utilizing resources across their Enterprise Grid."