GOVERNMENT

Critical Software, the world’s first commercial company to offer a full MPI-2 compliant implementation for both Linux and Windows clusters, and PathScale, developer of the world’s fastest compilers for AMD Opteron processor-based Linux clusters, have announced that Critical Software’s WMPI II now provides additional performance improvements and greater scalability for MPI based applications. NAS parallel benchmark results show that WMPI II can run parallel applications up to 56% faster when those applications are compiled with Pathscale instead of gcc, with an average gain over the entire benchmark of 19% (on an AMD Opteron processor-based SMP cluster running SuSE Linux). In addition, Critical Software has launched an initiative to promote and sell the PathScale EKOPath Compiler Suite to its HPC customers worldwide. Critical Software thus becomes the latest HPC technology innovator to join PathScale’s FastPath global partner program. HPC users in research organizations and academic institutions along with the commercial manufacturing, oil exploration, aerospace and defense industries can now take advantage of the scalability and performance advantages of highly parallel Linux-based AMD Opteron processor-based clusters fully optimized by advanced middleware and compiler technologies from Critical Software and PathScale. “Our recently-completed benchmarks of Critical Software’s flagship WMPI II implementation of the MPI-2 message passing interface standard, which were compiled using PathScale technology, produced substantial performance improvements and greater scalability for MPI-based applications,” said João Carreira, CEO of Critical Software. “These results demonstrate that the PathScale EKO Compiler Suite integrated with WMPI II constitutes the ideal development environment for Linux-based MPI applications.” While developing WMPI II, Critical Software collaborated with PathScale engineers to create specific middleware components and header files to link more efficiently into PathScale’s compiler architecture. This enhances the performance of MPI applications such as oil reservoir simulations, weather models, computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis running on AMD64-based clusters. This joint optimization by Critical Software and PathScale further increases the price/performance advantages of AMD Opteron processor-based clusters. “Clustered computing is rapidly becoming the architecture of choice for MPI applications for simulation and modeling,” said Art Goldberg, Chief Operating Officer of PathScale. “When complex MPI libraries are compiled using PathScale compilers, the result is a clearly higher performance environment that all HPC users, both commercial and research-oriented, can leverage for optimal results.” “Companies like PathScale and Critical Software are making important contributions to the Linux and HPC markets,” said Ben Williams, vice president of enterprise and server/workstation business for AMD’s Microprocessor Business Unit. “The AMD Opteron processor with Direct Connect Architecture and the innovative solutions from our partners are delivering valuable performance advantages for demanding HPC and enterprise applications.” Both the PathScale EKOPath Compiler Suite for the AMD Opteron processor and Critical Software’s WMPI II for HPC clusters are available on a free evaluation basis from Critical Software’s offices in Europe and North America. To request or download the trial versions, visit www.criticalsoftware.com/hpc or www.pathscale.com/trial.php. Background: Critical Software of San Jose, California and Coimbra, Portugal is a leading provider of middleware for High-Performance Computing. The company develops dependable solutions and technologies for mission and business critical systems where performance plays a key role. The company has grown from 3 to 85 engineers between 1998 and 2004, and is dedicated to solutions engineering and product development in several sectors and markets. Critical Software’s HPC business started in 2000, with the release of the entry-level WMPI product, providing an MPI-1.2 implementation for Windows clusters. Critical Software's MPI middleware is used worldwide to power hundreds of compute intensive applications in industry and academia. Continuous investment in R&D has enabled Critical to stay ahead of the competition with WMPI II being the only commercially available MPI-2 implementation for Windows clusters. Linux support has been added to provide a comprehensive solution for parallel processing across COTS clusters. For more details email mkt@criticalsoftware.com. Based in Sunnyvale, California, PathScale develops innovative software and hardware technologies that substantially increase the performance and efficiency of Linux clusters, the next significant wave in high-end computing. Applications that benefit from PathScale’s technologies include seismic processing, complex physical modeling, EDA simulation, molecular modeling, biosciences, econometric modeling, computational chemistry, computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis, weather modeling, resource optimization, decision support and data mining. PathScale’s investors include Adams Street Partners, Charles River Ventures, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, CMEA Ventures, ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures and the Dow Employees Pension Plan. For more details, visit www.pathscale.com; send email to sales@pathscale.com or telephone 1-408-746-9100.