SYSTEMS

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- With the just-completed installation of SGI(R) collaborative visualization, high- performance computing and storage systems, Cardiff University, Wales, U.K., is poised to become a world leader in the development of advanced visualization systems for grid-based computing. The new systems and Visual Area Networking (VAN) technologies from SGI, installed early last summer, will serve as the computing backbone of the Cardiff Distributed Visualisation Facility (CDVF), part of the university's Welsh e-Science Centre. This newly created institution is one of eight regional centers of expertise established by the U.K. Research Councils earlier this year to promote the use of distributed collaborative computing. The CDVF will now be able to offer unique, immersive technologies to academia and private industry throughout Wales and southwest England, all available within an e-science grid framework using SGI VAN technology. "E-science" refers to science conducted via distributed collaboration on the Internet, typically requiring access to very large data collections, large-scale computing resources and high-resolution visualization. "Thanks to the new SGI installation, we'll very shortly be offering grid-enabled visualization technologies to a wide range of disciplines inside and outside the university, including engineering, physics, medical care, meteorological centers and even the entertainment industry," said David Walker, professor of high-performance computing, Cardiff University, and director of the Welsh e-Science Centre. "Our SGI systems will be the focus of our efforts to bring a wide range of extraordinary graphics computing power to organizations that have never before had the access or the funds to make it a reality." "We're very pleased that Cardiff University's e-Science Centre has chosen SGI visualization systems and servers for its new Cardiff Distributed Visualisation Facility," noted SGI's Steve Coggins, senior vice president and general manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "This forward-looking facility will lead the way in demonstrating visualization applications enabled by within grid environments." SGI Visual Area Networking technologies provide the primary means by which complex visualizations generated on the SGI(R) Onyx(R) 300 visualization system can be distributed across the Cardiff University campus and from there to the wider Welsh grid environment. Visual Area Networking enables users to interact remotely with visualization supercomputers anywhere they are, using any client device-wireless tablets, set-top boxes, mobile phones or wearable computers-whether individually or collaboratively. This gives SGI customers a competitive tool that fundamentally improves the way they make decisions and increases the benefits they achieve from advanced visualization. The CDVF installation comprises a range of hardware and software designed to address complex problems: -- A 32-processor SGI Onyx 300 visualization system with three InfiniteReality3(TM) graphics subsystems addresses large shared-memory capability problems that have a requirement for ultra-low latency communications and for closely coupled access to industry-leading visualization. -- Connected to the system are four eight-processor SGI(R) Origin(R) 300 servers handling throughput work using a Myrinet(TM) interconnect, allowing all the processors to be used in parallel to tackle large-scale distributed-memory applications. -- The systems are connected to a storage area network (SAN) that, through the use of SGI's unique CXFS(TM) shared SAN filesystem, allows multiple hosts simultaneous shared access to data stored on a 2TB SGI(R) TP9100 Fibre Channel storage system. -- For large-scale stereoscopic viewing, the display environment comprises a Fakespace Portico WorkWall(TM) and two Fakespace ImmersaDesk(R) R2 workbenches, designed and integrated by SGI Professional Services. -- A number of Silicon Graphics Fuel(TM) visual workstations act as both grid access stations and visualization development seats. The Welsh e-Science Centre will be able to serve as the advanced visualization and rendering center for a wide range of industries. Clients can process their data at the facility, then, using SGI VAN technology, check on the job's progress while they're in the field by viewing a down-sampled representation of that imagery on a PC, personal digital assistant or even next-generation mobile phone. The CDVF can offer immersive visualization technologies to help train physicians in new surgical techniques. With its new SGI systems, the center will also be able to harness its considerable computing power to create a rendering farm during times of low use. A motion picture studio could use the facility to create the frames for a computer-generated movie, and those frames could then be transmitted via high-speed link to the client's remote facility. For more information about SGI Visual Area Networking technology, visit http://www.sgi.com/visualization/van/. To learn more about the Welsh e-Science Centre's grid resources, projects and staff, visit http://www.wesc.ac.uk/.