DEFENSE

Sistina Software, the premier storage infrastructure software company delivering data-sharing solutions, and Fujitsu Systems Europe, one of Europe's top server and storage OEMs, today announced that CD adapco Group's Computational Dynamics Ltd. division has deployed Fujitsu's hpcLine of Intel-based servers powered by Sistina GFS(TM) (Global File System). The implementation of this Sistina-scaled Linux cluster significantly improves the ease of configuration, management and data-sharing capabilities of its computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications. CD adapco Group's innovative CFD technology, STAR-CD, is used by nearly every major automobile manufacturer, including GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Nissan and Volkswagen. In the last decade, CFD has become a widely used analysis tool by engineers to gain a better understanding of the complex flow processes in their equipment. Computer aided design involves intensive computing that can be done in parallel to allow for more efficient use of existing assets. The implementation of Sistina GFS allowed CD adapco Group to build out a multi-tiered storage network that rapidly achieved levels of performance and reliability with its CFD applications, which previously required proprietary monolithic UNIX servers and high- performance disk systems attached to every local node. "CD adapco Group's system powered by Sistina GFS is 100 percent stable," said Steve Feldman, director of software development at CD adapco Group. "Our new, 32-server Fujitsu Linux cluster came with a terabyte disk farm served up to all nodes via Sistina GFS technology. Our benchmarks show that the performance of STAR-CD running from Sistina GFS-served disks is virtually identical to that of local disks. The whole system, including Sistina GFS, is extremely robust, so we are confident that we will use this same combination for any of our future Linux-based clusters." "Firms modeling surfaces for aerospace, automotive and ship design need large amounts of storage and rapid I/O to support the computational fluid dynamics analyses that are critical to their design cycle," states Mike Karp, senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates. "Linux-based storage virtualization offers CD adapco and other design firms a solution that enables simplified, cost-effective management of very complex systems. As Linux moves deeper into storage developments like this, solutions like Sistina GFS will be crucial for dynamic management." Sistina GFS consolidates existing server and storage resources into a single management domain, linking thousands of diverse data storage repositories into a massively scalable, secure and robust storage area network (SAN) based on either Fibre Channel or IP technologies. Using Linux, Intel-based Fujitsu-Siemens servers and Sistina GFS, CD adapco Group can expand the capabilities of its 32-node processor system by incrementally and independently adding, as needed, more processing capacity, I/O bandwidth or storage without the need to move or change the deployed applications or redeploy the original hardware. "Europe is a hotbed for Linux cluster computing - whether being used for crash-testing, automotive design applications, or enterprise database implementations," said Joaquin Ruiz, Sistina's vice president of marketing and product management. "As evidenced by CD adapco Group's implementation, there is a huge need to consolidate data and achieve enhanced server utilization capacity. Sistina GFS is the enabling technology providing that functionality, while at the same time reducing the complexity and costs of customers' IT infrastructure." "Sistina GFS was selected by Fujitsu as its exclusive cluster file system for the hpcLine for its ability to enhance key data management and protection capabilities and to accelerate the deployment of Linux clusters in combination with SAN architectures," said Naoya Tamura, chief executive officer of Fujitsu Systems Europe. "The integration of Sistina GFS with Fujitsu's hpcLine offers enterprises an excellent Linux-based solution for reliable, shared access to large data sets for high-performance computing." CD adapco Group joins more than 100 enterprises in the manufacturing, telecom and financial services industries that are leveraging Sistina GFS in combination with a computing architecture based on standards, modularity, efficiency and economies-of-scale. Currently available on all major Linux distributions and recognized as the de facto cluster file system on Linux, Sistina GFS 5.2 is a modular, robust and native file system, which allows multiple computers to share a single, common view of storage data. Sistina GFS is distributed as part of Fujitsu's first pre-configured Linux cluster offering on its new 3.06 GHz dual Intel Xeon processor-based server hardware.