SYSTEMS

Mercury Computer Systems today introduced its XR9 family of Linux-based scalable, modular servers based on dual IBM PowerPC 970FX microprocessors. The rack-mountable systems are available as cluster compute nodes or standalone units, with flexible packaging and configuration options. These cost-effective, high-performance computing solutions are designed for a range of commercial and industrial applications including medical imaging, engineering and scientific simulation, and high-performance data visualization. The XR9 product family is an extension of Mercury's existing XR line of products, which also includes XRi systems based on Intel® Xeon(TM) microprocessors. The XR9 family system supports Mercury's industry-leading algorithm libraries optimized for AltiVec(TM)-based processors and other software solutions, as well as adds support for Mercury's new XRS line of InfiniBand® switches and Host Channel Adaptors (HCAs). "Mercury's new family of computers based on the IBM PowerPC 970FX processors will provide customers with one of the best performance platforms in the market, a great migration path to our existing PCI-based PowerPC G4 users, and an excellent base for a broad variety of applications," said Didier Thibaud, vice president, Imaging and Visualization Solutions (IVS), at Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. "By providing both PowerPC 970FX and Xeon-based solutions in the XR product family, Mercury reaffirms its leadership in integrating, customizing, and installing rack-mountable commercial off-the- shelf (COTS) solutions for imaging and high-speed computation." The 64-bit PowerPC 970FX processors in the XR9 systems permit addressing of immense data spaces, compared to the 2 to 4 Gbytes/second supported by 32- bit systems. This is crucial in emerging applications in medical imaging, oil and gas exploration, and virtual presence high-end simulations. XR9 products are based on open standards including the Linux operating system and InfiniBand interconnect products. These technologies enable customers to leverage the wide range of third-party products and public-domain expertise available for these standards. Additionally, InfiniBand's published technology road map anticipates data rates of 30 Gbytes/second within a year, ensuring ample communications bandwidth for high-performance computing applications. PowerPC systems are also code-compatible with Mercury RACE++ Series VantageRT® family of PCI-based multicomputers, and possess an established product road map supporting long-term investment protection. Availability Mercury's XR9 family of rack-mountable, modular server systems will be available in August 2004. Information about the XR9 family of servers is available on Mercury's website: http://www.mc.com/xr. A high-resolution photograph can be downloaded from Mercury's image library: http://www.mc.com/70Systems.