INDUSTRY

Today's introduction of IBM eServer Blue Gene system ushers-in a new era of high performance computing (HPC) for businesses and scientific uses. The system, unveiled today, will provide customers with the capability to advance science and business with unprecedented speed, ultrascale performance and extreme efficiency. IBM eServer Blue Gene enables customers to obtain a peak performance of 5.7 teraflops, with a single full rack system, and is optimized for density, low power consumption, bandwidth, and scalability while consuming a fraction of power and floor space.With a footprint of less than one square meter, the system delivers more than ten times the performance of other supercomputers now on the market while occupying less floor space. "The Blue Gene technology allows us to introduce a new class of high performance computing capability to industry-specific business challenges allowing our clients to deliver new or better optimized business functionality to their customers, said Colin Parris, vice president, eServer Product Management, IBM. "We are actively working with key industry partners to execute an optimal delivery of the blue gene capability into these key marketplaces." IBM Blue Gene is the result of a research project chartered five years ago, requiring the effort and collaboration among IBM designers, engineers and master technologists, with more than $100 million dollars invested in research. Known originally as a research vehicle for the study of protein folding, it is now commercially available for purchase to qualified customers who have application workloads in a variety of science disciplines. IBM, working with partners, is making Blue Gene applicable for workloads across a variety of disciplines. IBM and many national lab and university members are enabling a growing list of HPC applications and codes in areas of life sciences, financial modeling (not underway yet), hydrodynamics, quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, astronomy and space research, and climate modeling. Other areas of interest include grid computing, business intelligence, risk and compliance, aerodynamics study and testing and manufacturing processes. Many key software vendors such as LSTC, Platform Computing and Allinea have specified an interest in enabling their applications on Blue Gene. Etnus is already in the process of enabling their TotalView parallel debugger to Blue Gene. Helping customers to gain access to IBM eServer Blue Gene, IBM is developing programs to expand the opportunities for clients with constrained budgets or limited usage requirements. For the first time, IBM is planning to offer access to Blue Gene through IBM’s Deep Computing Capacity on Demand Center. Customers will remotely access the system through a highly secure and dedicated Virtual Private Network and pay only for the amount of capacity reserved – lowering financial and technical risk. In addition, IBM eServer Blue Gene can be leased or purchased with flexible financing provided by IBM Global Financing. IBM Global Financing can provide highly competitive rates that help customers control costs minimizing financial risk. IBM is also studying options to offer entry-level priced Blue Gene systems with physically smaller packaging for use as program development platforms. IBM’s Blue Gene/L system is the fastest supercomputing system in the world, computing data at an astounding performance of 70.72 Linpack teraflops, or trillions of calculations per second. IBM eServer Blue Gene facts and figures: • IBM eServer Blue Gene is available from 1 to 64 racks - 1024 dual-processor nodes per rack - Partially populated racks with fewer than 1024 nodes are also available to qualified customers • IBM eServer Blue Gene delivers a peak performance of 5.7 teraflops (trillions of calculations per second) per rack • IBM eServer Blue Gene yields 25 times more performance per KW than Earth Simulator • The system is more compact than the average supercomputer at 3ft. by 3ft. by 6ft Note: Customers must provide documented information to qualify for IBM eServer BlueGene based on financial and background information provided to IBM.