GOVERNMENT

Cray Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a $250 million agreement from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Under this agreement, Cray will develop a revolutionary new supercomputer based on the company’s Adaptive Supercomputing vision, a phased approach to hybrid computing that integrates a range of processing technologies into a single scalable platform. “This is a great day for Cray and the worldwide supercomputing community,” said Peter Ungaro, Cray’s president and CEO. “The DARPA HPCS program is an important force that is shaping the future of HPC and the entire computer industry. With this Phase III award, DARPA has recognized Cray as a leading innovator with the technology, vision and expertise required to deliver world-class, revolutionary supercomputing systems.” DARPA introduced the High Productivity Computing Systems (HPCS) program to facilitate development of the next generation of supercomputers for the national security, research, and industrial user communities. Cray’s HPCS development program, code-named “Cascade,” will produce a system with exceptional programmability, portability and robustness – capable of scaling to unprecedented levels of sustained performance on real applications. Under the Cascade program, Cray will develop a new hybrid system architecture that combines multiple processor technologies, a new high-performance network and an innovative adaptive software layer into a single integrated system. Designed to efficiently scale to large numbers of processors, the system will maximize productivity and performance by automatically matching the most effective processor technology to each application. Over the course of the contract, Cray will incorporate elements of the Cascade program into commercially available products, including the peak-petaflops supercomputer, code-named “Baker,” that will be delivered to the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). In addition, ORNL will be one of Cray's Phase III partners, focused around scaling from both the systems perspective and the performance of key applications. “High productivity computing is a key technology enabler for meeting our national security and economic competitiveness requirements,” noted Dr. William Harrod, DARPA program manager, in the DARPA press release announcing the Phase III award. “High productivity computing contributes substantially to the design and development of advanced vehicles and weapons, planning and execution of operational military scenarios, the intelligence problems of cryptanalysis and image processing, the maintenance of our nuclear stockpile, and is a key enabler for science and discovery in security-related fields.” "DARPA has an enduring history of facilitating breakthrough innovations in the computing industry that ultimately have improved our lives,” said Steve Scott, Cray’s chief technology officer and technical lead for the Cascade program. “From the evolution of the Internet to the development of VLSI technology that fueled the silicon revolution, DARPA’s support of advanced technology development has been unwavering. The HPCS program is another example of DARPA’s commitment to invest in breakthrough technologies." Cray’s Cascade program will exploit the technological expertise of a variety of industry-leading partners in areas such as software tools and compilers, file systems, and storage. In addition, Cray will leverage AMD Opteron and HyperTransport technologies from Cray's long-standing strategic partner, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD). “Cray has consistently demonstrated leadership in developing truly innovative solutions, focused on meeting the most demanding needs of its customers,” said Hector Ruiz, Chairman and CEO of AMD. “The success of Cray systems based on AMD processors shows that our two companies can meet very aggressive performance goals, solve daunting engineering problems, and more importantly, develop solutions that can change the face of our world.” The DARPA Phase III award provides milestone-based funding for the effort, which extends through 2010. In addition to DARPA’s contribution, Cray and its partners will also make substantial investments in the Cascade program.