By Chris O’Neal -- At the opening night of SC07, Supercomputing Online’s Chris O’Neal sat down with Jim Ballew, CTO of APPRO in Milpitas, California to discuss Appro’s new Xtreme-X Supercomputer launch. Appro introduced today its new Appro Xtreme-X1, part of its new Xtreme-X Supercomputer series based on dual-socket, Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processors. According to IDC, the goal for greater performance at lower costs has propelled clusters to the forefront of high-performance computing. Still, HPC users are demanding continually better reliability, availability, flexibility and compatibility– all at a lower cost and improved power efficiency. Responding to these demands, Appro has introduced the Appro Xtreme-X Supercomputing Series based on scalable cluster concept to create next-generation clusters with supercomputer performance. Appro's concept is based on a flexible architecture that groups together clusters to make a unified, fully integrated "Scalable Unit" (SU) that can be provisioned and managed as a stand-alone supercomputer system to deliver sustained capacity computing performance. Appro showcases the new Xtreme-X1 Supercomputer at the Appro booth #714 at the SC07, in Reno, Nevada from November 12-16. Formal presentations and live demonstrations are available at Appro’s booth. To learn more, Chris O’Neal interviewed Jim Ballew, CTO of Appro International. SC Online: Please tell us about Appro Xtreme-X Supercomputer Series. Please explain the unified clusters concept approach. Ballew: The Appro Xtreme-X Supercomputer series offer a next-generation platform based on SU clusters, a “building block” IT infrastructure with a cost-effective, energy-efficient and scalable architecture. The Appro Xtreme-X series is designed to scale out data centers for medium to large-scale enterprises and HPC deployments ranging from 6TF to more than 1000TF of computing power. It arrives as a fully integrated solution, completely pre-packaged, which simplifies the configuration for a particular computational requirement. The Xtreme-X1 is the first in the Series and it is the one that we are launching today. It is based on dual-socket, Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processors. Appro plans to introduce the X2 model based on AMD Opteron Processors in the first half of 2008. The unified cluster approach, it has to do with the way “Scalable Units” (SUs) can be grouped together – assembled to make a unified, fully integrated single “entity” that can be provisioned and managed as easily as a stand-alone system. At the same time, you gain all the benefits of clusters. You will see results in real time; the sum of multiple SUs unified in this way is greater than the value of its cluster parts added together separately. This is a new paradigm for building supercomputers at a reduced TCO. SC Online: What industries will most benefit from Appro Xtreme-X Supercomputer Series and how does this appeal to IT needs today? Ballew: Many industries will benefit, in particular industries that are using applications with the need for high performance, high availability with better system management. Appro Xtreme-X1 delivers a balanced highly-available supercomputer clustering building block across a wide range of HPC applications that is ideal for applications across all industries in electronic design automation, aerospace and automotive engineering simulations, petroleum exploration and production, scientific visualization for oil discovery and recovery, research in seismic, weather and environmental sciences, defense and classified research/production, and financial modeling and risk management. SC Online: How does Appro address density and power and cooling with this new supercomputer? Ballew: Appro’s Xtreme-X1 Supercomputer features a new Directed Airflow cooling configuration designed to reduce datacenter floor space while maximizing power and cooling efficiency. This cooling system features front access for maintenance, allowing racks to be mounted back-to-back to take advantage of the under-floor cooling available in most data centers while delivering the cold air directly to the equipment to be cooled. Delivering cold under-floor air directly to the equipment eliminates the aisle between the racks. This improves density– which saves 30% on floor space. Within the blades themselves, board components are positioned so that processor-heated air flows over the fewest components and is ejected from the blade server through the front access panel. More than half of this front panel is perforated to minimize turbulence and reduce pressure. In addition, Xtreme-X1 comes with “Power-Factor-Corrected” power supplies that are 90% efficient compared to 70% to 80% typical power supplies used in current equipment. For the node level, Xtreme-X1 offers three independent cooling fans for cooling efficiency, redundancy and serviceability (RAS). SC Online: How does Xtreme-X1 scales across the network? What are the Interconnects that addresses best HPC performance? Ballew: InfiniBand provides a high-performance interconnect built on open standards that are supported by multiple vendors. As an interconnect, it offers high bandwidth and low latency for cluster computing and is running on systems with thousands of nodes. As an enterprise interconnect it is able to run multiple protocols on the same connections, thus providing connectivity to existing storage and network equipment in the data center. InfiniBand is currently a less expensive solution that 10GbE with twice the bandwidth. So the user benefits from a high-speed network without having to entirely upgrade the data center. Because of InfiniBand, Appro Xtreme-X is able to give customers the flexibility of choosing a network that can be easily integrated into existing systems. On the other hand, bulky cables and high cost have been disadvantages for InfiniBand. However, cost is decreasing as the market starts to embrace this technology, and cabling can be minimized or replaced with low cost fiber optic connections, which is what Appro has done in the Xtreme-X series. Working closely with Mellanox and Intel, leaders in InfiniBand-based silicon and interconnect solutions, Appro designed the Xtreme-X series with space for integration of network switches, providing hot-swappable and redundant (Dual Rail) InfiniBand connections using low latency Mellanox ConnectX host channel adapters for reliability and serviceability. The Xtreme-X combines InfiniBand, PCI-Express, ConnectX adapters, Intel fiber optic interconnects between racks, and multi-core processor technologies to deliver outstanding performance, scalability and reliability. SC Online: Cluster remote management capabilities are becoming critical to IT System Administrators. What monitoring and management software does Appro offer to address their needs? Ballew: Essential to the Xtreme-X Series achieving immediate productivity is the Appro Cluster Engine Software Management, a carefully layered architecture offering a complete lights-out management solution that comes pre-installed with every system. This software suite offers a web-based management interface that is easy to use, with a local console look and feel. Modules include Fabric Management, Server Management, Cluster Management and Resource Management. In addition, the management software supports multiple networking topologies to achieve maximum reliability, performance and high availability, including multi-rail networks with load balancing and nonstop network failover. To accompany this new series, Appro is also introducing Xtreme-X Services, delivering closed-loop solution management, up-front consulting, pre-integration and testing with pre-sales and post-sales support. Appro’s Xtreme-X Services will support Linux operating environments, with configurations that provide exceptional performance across a wide range of HPC applications. SC Online: When and how will the Xtreme-X series be available? Ballew: The first model in the series – the Appro Xtreme-X1 – is based on dual-socket, Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors. It features a reliable and scalable architecture with 128 nodes/512 Xeon processors and 6TF of computing power in a single 42U equipment rack. It offers up to 4TB of memory, hot-swappable blades and redundant cooling fans and a robust management system. Appro will showcase its new supercomputer at the SC07 conference and expo, in booth #714 at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. In the first half of 2008, we plan to introduce the X2 model, based on AMD Opteron processors. In addition, as part of the Xtreme-X series and based on the same concept of Scalable Units for building Supercomputers Linux clusters, Appro offers the Xtreme-X supercomputer configuration based on the Tri-Labs (TLCC07) awarded procurement. For more information about this configuration, please contact Appro’s Sales Representative. SC Online: How do you see Appro’s future in the HPC market? Ballew: Appro has established a good reputation in the HPC market, to include the largest Linux clusters installation at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the award of a two-year contract to supply the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA with Linux clusters for capacity computing. Appro will continue to focus on HPC. We believe that the Xtreme-X Supercomputer Series will go a long way toward addressing the needs for greater performance, reliability, availability and TCO for compute-intensive applications for both HPC and commercial markets. SuperComputing Online wishes to thank Jim Ballew for his time and insights.