GAMING

Avetec’s Data Intensive Computing Environment (DICE) has partnered with Obsidian Strategics Inc. to bring long-haul InfiniBand to real-world networks on the DICE test bed. The solution will drastically reduce data transfer times and allow data centers to exchange information cross country as if they were next door. InfiniBand is an extremely fast and efficient networking technology, used extensively inside supercomputers, but is traditionally confined to links just a few meters long. Obsidian's “Longbow” solutions seamlessly stretch these connections over global distances - leveraging existing optical networks while preserving local link performance. “The Longbow technology will enhance the DICE test bed, helping our partners and collaborators across the HPC industry to reach critical data management solutions faster,” said DICE Program Director Roger Panton. “We’re expecting a number of new project proposals from government and commercial interests to access this new capability”. This Longbow InfiniBand technology was developed under the guidance of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. and is deployed at a number of secure locations within the Large Data Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration project - a Pentagon-funded initiative to test and build a high-speed, low latency network architecture capable of handling extremely large data flows. “The Longbow has proven itself to be a world-class technology,” said U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s Large Data Technical Program Lead Jim Hofmann. “This architecture allows very short-range InfiniBand equipment to communicate over global optical networks with unprecedented efficiency, transparency and reach.” “Our partnership with DICE makes available the critical infrastructure test beds necessary to experience new configurations prior to full deployment,” said Obsidian President and CEO Dr. David Southwell. For more information on the partnership and how to submit a proposal to the DICE test bed, visit its Web site.