PROCESSORS

Microway announces the Navion-QQ server -- Microway’s most powerful SMP computational platform, designed for four or eight Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, up to 128 GB memory and eight drives in Microway’s 4U RuggedRack. With redundant power and excellent cooling, the Navion-QQ server is an exceptionally quiet 4/8 way AMD Opteron processor-based configuration available today. It is ideal for compute-intensive applications including DSP, CFD and FEA, as well as high-performance database and enterprise-class applications. Navion-Q, a dual processor version designed for clusters, features two Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors packed into a robustly cooled 1U rack chassis. A standard cabinet can contain up to 336 cores. Microway is also shipping their WhisperStation ultra-quiet workstation with Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors. All configurations have been “quietized” by employing noise reducing technologies and are available running many flavors of Linux or Microsoft Windows 2003 Enterprise operating systems. Microway’s integrated advanced manageability features have been refined over years of development and hundreds of real-world cluster deployments. Microway's NodeWatch and MCMS hardware/software management solution for remote cluster monitoring and control are included as standard features on the Navion-QQ and Navion-Q. Well known for its expertise in cooling, Microway’s achieved operating temperatures are consistently lower than industry guidelines. Both the 1U CoolFlow chassis and 4U RuggedRack feature proprietary Across-the-Board enhanced cooling. The RuggedRack includes front access hard disks and Hot-Swap power supplies. This allows the most common system failures to be serviced without powering off the server, or even removing the unit from a cabinet. Microway's Navion-QQ, Navion-Q and WhisperStation are also available as multi-function SMP storage servers. Navion-QQ will support HPC/Enterprise applications while providing up to 48 Terabytes of Storage in one single machine! One 19" Microway CoolRak cabinet can provide 384 Terabyte's of Storage along with 128 cores of compute power sharing 512 GB's of memory. These machines are all fault tolerant, highly available with redundant power. Technical innovations of the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors are of special importance to data center design and operating cost considerations. AMD’s native Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors are packed with core and cache enhancements designed to improve performance of server and workstation applications. They also feature power efficient features such as AMD CoolCore technology, designed to turn off portions of the processor logic and memory controller when not in use, helping to reduce processor energy consumption and heat generation. Dual Dynamic Power Management offers separate power planes for the cores and integrated memory controller for optimum performance and reduced power consumption, and Independent Dynamic Core Technology, designed to allow each core’s utilization to be separately controlled for better power management for a reduction in power consumption. Enhanced AMD PowerNow! technology can help lower the total operational cost of datacenters by reducing processor power consumption during non-peak workloads, thereby reducing heat generation and decreasing strain on facility cooling systems to protect investments in today’s demanding data processing environments. “The AMD Opteron processor is built from the ground up to directly address the demands of the HPC market. Critical features of the processor, like its integrated memory controller and HyperTransport technology, provide it with a clear advantage over the front side bus-based architecture that has dominated the x86 space for many years. AMD’s latest innovation, a native quad-core design with 4 cores on a single die, enables programs that are not memory-bound to take full advantage of the additional processing power,” commented Stephen Fried, President and CTO, Microway, Inc. “Programs that can dramatically improve in speed include floating point intensive computations, like FFTs, which have high data re-use rates; SMP applications that make frequent calls, including transaction-based business applications; and programs that depend on byte code interpreters like JAVA to carry the work load. Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors will change the face of high performance computing.” “Microway’s outstanding cooling technology combined with the energy-efficient capabilities of AMD Opteron processors continues to deliver world-class performance to both datacenter and high-performance computing customers, without compromising power consumption,” said Patrick Patla, Director of Product Management, Server/Workstation Division, AMD. “Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors provide performance-on-demand capabilities for optimum performance-per-watt and outstanding power savings, helping to maximize utilization.” As an AMD Platinum Provider, Microway incorporates the newest AMD processors and high end graphics cards in its innovative product line, including servers, clusters, WhisperStations and storage servers. Microway will feature an 8-way SMP storage/computational server employing Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors in its booth at the SC07 Supercomputing trade show in November. A complete product description can be found at its Web site.