VISUALIZATION

Global Grid Forum7, TOKYO, -- SGI announced that SGI Japan Ltd. has delivered an SGI(R) Onyx(R) 300 visualization system to the Hokkaido University Computing Center in Sapporo, Japan. Its intended use is in the emerging field of visualization on the grid. Using the 32-processor SGI Onyx 300 system as its research platform, the center is set to become a cornerstone of grid computing in Japan, allowing users to leverage real-time visualization of high-volume data in remote environments. The system, which has already successfully started operations, marks the first step toward the implementation of a grid computing infrastructure being built by the information technology centers at seven of Japan's national public universities. Using the university's grid computing environment, Hokkaido University researchers will conduct various projects requiring large-scale data visualization, such as post-genomic, nanotechnology and environmental studies. They will also work in conjunction with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and with research centers at other Japanese universities. The budding grid environment is based on the "e-science" concept of collaborating on and sharing research electronically, as recommended by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Computing center staff chose the Onyx 300 system over competing systems because of SGI's long and successful history with data visualization technologies and because of the company's advanced grid computing expertise. Grid computing is designed to utilize remote computing capacity at research centers and corporations in order to conduct advanced science, medical and space technology research, all of which require enormous computing power. Visualization on the grid is enabled by the SGI concept of Visual Area Networking. The Hokkaido University system, which can be accessed by all types of desktop and mobile client computers, creating collaborative work environments for research teams across different universities, takes the SGI concept of Visual Area Networking to new levels. Visual Area Networking is based on the idea that the large data sets behind complex images can be stored and processed in one place but can be accessed and manipulated by people using any client device, either by themselves or collaboratively across existing networks. With the use of Visual Area Networking solutions, all graphics results are generated on powerful visual servers, such as the SGI Onyx 300 system at Hokkaido University, and are made available to geographically distributed end users and collaborative teams. With Hokkaido University users working within the new Japanese university grid computing environment, the Computing center's system brings visualization to grid computing. To harness the untapped processing power of globally distributed, heterogeneous computing resources, the system also utilizes Platform LSF(R), the foundation of Platform's Grid computing solutions, and Platform Globus(TM), Platform Computing's commercially supported distribution of the open-source Globus Toolkit(TM) software. With Platform Globus, scientists and engineers can establish a grid computing infrastructure across multiple heterogeneous hardware and software platforms and create a virtual organization to pool and share compute resources across geographic sites. Platform's Grid solutions, coupled with innovative SGI HPC, visualization and data management solutions, provide integrated, grid-enabled solutions to help enterprises create higher-quality products and services and to improve collaboration while maximizing IT investment.