VISUALIZATION

DENVER, CO -- SGI (NYSE: SGI), a world leader in high-performance computing, complex data management and visualization products, solutions and services, announced today at Supercomputing 2001, that the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and the Cosmology Laboratory at Cambridge University are demonstrating the power of collaborative visualization grid technologies using SGI(TM) Origin(TM) and SGI(TM) Onyx® family systems. SGI's heritage of delivering high performance and visualization solutions for distributed computing firmly positions it on the forefront of grid computing. Grid computing is a technology by which the Internet or dedicated networks are used to interconnect a wide variety of geographically distributed computational resources, such as supercomputers, computer clusters, storage systems, and data sources, and present them as a single, unified resource. The grid computing concept offers consistent and inexpensive access to resources irrespective of their physical location, allowing remote customers to tackle large computational problems, quickly access large bodies of data or tap into remote graphics power. SGI Onyx Family System Powers COSMOS Project The COSMOS project, led by Professor Stephen Hawking at the University of Cambridge, uses SGI Origin and Onyx family high-performance computing and advanced visualization systems to compare satellite observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with theoretical simulations of matching resolution to characterize the fundamental nature of the perturbations from which the structure of our universe was formed. ``We are pleased to be working with SGI and the NCSA to realize the full potential of the SGI Onyx family visualization system on the COSMOS project and to be able to use it across the grid,'' said Professor Stephen Hawking, Lucasian professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. ``Distributed, collaborative visualization is a key enabling technology for productive grid computing,'' said Dr. Eng Lim Goh, chief technology officer at SGI. ``This significant grid demonstration shows that real-time remote collaboration is now practical for advanced scientific work involving large and complex data. We are delighted to be able to contribute to this important effort and have plans to extend this technology. While this particular collaboration involves remote nodes, each with independent graphical processing power, we have also started investigation into requirements for light clients to participate effectively in the same grid session.'' Visualization: The Key That Unlocks the Grid The key concept underlying the development of grid computing is that users transparently take advantage of resources available over the network. Visual serving unlocks the power of the grid for visualization so users anywhere can interact with the results of supercomputing calculations by greatly expanding access to scientific visualizations, thereby increasing productivity for both local and remote users. SGI delivers tools and solutions compatible with the grid, including: -- SGI Origin family servers and SGI Onyx 3000 series visualization systems -- OpenGL Vizserver, which enables users of inexpensive, general-purpose or commodity computers running IRIX(R), Linux(R), Solaris(R), or Windows NT(R) operating systems to access the full power of SGI Onyx 3000 series high-performance visualization systems -- SGI(TM) CXFS(TM), a clustered solution that provides a single filesystem accessible on a heterogeneous storage area network from multiple hosts, including IRIX, Linux, Windows NT, Windows(R) 2000 and Solaris Supercomputing 2001 At Supercomputing 2001 SGI features SGI Onyx family visualization systems at Cambridge and the SGI Booth 707, and a cluster of desktop systems at the NCSA Supercomputing 2001 booth that will be linked via a grid to participate in a collaborative session where data generated on the SGI Onyx family system in Cambridge will be analyzed by co-researchers at the other sites. Participants will be using different projection technologies to collaborate: Cambridge will use a flat wall display, the NCSA booth will have a multiprojected wall and the SGI booth will have a three-channel 21-foot flat wall projection system. NCSA, one of the biggest and best known proponents of grid computing, developed Virtual Director, the application used to link the sites. Virtual Director makes use of SGI(TM) Performer(TM) and OpenGL Multipipe(TM) software libraries to deliver high levels of performance and scalability. The live demonstration will show Virtual Director running in real time with the collaborators from Cambridge and NCSA demonstrating fly-throughs of filamentary data sets showing Lyman-alpha gas clouds and galaxies. Other visualizations will illustrate perturbations in the Cosmic Microwave Background used to determine the formation of our universe. Virtual Director will be running at all three sites, allowing researchers at each site to discuss and interact with the data simulation. For more information visit www.sgi.com