IBM Delivers New Itanium-Based Systems; New eServer xSeries and IntelliStation Workstations Form Most Powerful Linux Supercomputer in Academia.

Business/Technology Editors

ARMONK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 29, 2001

IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced new Intel(R) Itanium(TM)-based eServer(a) and IntelliStation(R) workstations which will form a new Linux(R) supercluster at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Capable of 1 trillion calculations per second, a cluster of 160 new IBM Itanium-based systems will be the most powerful Linux supercluster in academia.

Scientists will use NCSA's IBM eServer clusters to study a wide range of research problems, from how gas flows over surfaces at supersonic speeds to simulations of black hole collisions, which demonstrate principles of Einstein's General Relativity Theory. The new Itanium-based eServer cluster will complement the cluster of 512 eServer x330's installed earlier this year.

"Linux, Itanium and IBM create a very strong combination," said Dan Reed, director of NCSA and the National Computational Science Alliance. "We have been running Linux on IBM Itanium-based servers and workstations for quite some time and have seen very good performance on applications. These new systems will provide great additions to the eServer x330 based-Linux Supercluster that is already installed."

New eServer

The new eServer x380, IBM's first Itanium-based server, was designed as the industry standard reference platform for IA-64 development efforts. Available with up to four processors, the x380 delivers increased performance for data intensive applications such as data mining and data warehousing, online transaction processing and security applications. In addition, the x380 is available with up to 64GB(1) of memory permitting in-memory processing of data intensive applications, which helps avoid bottlenecks. System also includes hot swap and redundant fans and four power supplies, along with hot-swap PCI technology.

Targeted towards bringing high-end Intel computing into the technical environment and data center, the x380 can scale up to four processors and scale out to hundreds of nodes using industry standard clustering technology.

New IntelliStation Z Pro

The new IntelliStation Z Pro announced today is IBM's first workstation to take advantage of Itanium, creating new solutions for engineers, media creators and scientists. Working in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, NCSA scientists using the new IntelliStation Z Pro to study gas flow dynamics have achieved single-processor performance in excess of 650 megaflops. Engineers can take advantage of floating point performance to run compute-intensive applications, such as finite analysis, on lower-cost platforms. And media creators can design more life-like animations while reducing rendering time.

"Few tasks are more complex or demanding of the capabilities of the host platform," says Chris Ford, senior product manager, Alias|Wavefront, a leading software developer of 2D and 3D graphic technology for film and video, interactive media and industrial design. "Maya's unparalleled capabilities in physical-based simulation utilize the Itanium processors floating point performance to maximize throughput of the most complex problems imaginable."

The IntelliStation Z Pro is one of the most reliable workstations available, with rigorous testing in design and manufacturing, a three-year limited warranty (2), and the opportunity to communicate directly with the engineering development team through the "Ask Engineering" program. Systems will be available June 29, and prices start at $16,799 (3).

NCSA

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications is the leading-edge site for the National Computational Science Alliance. NCSA is a leader in the development and deployment of cutting-edge high-performance computing, networking, and information technologies. The National Science Foundation, the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, industrial partners, and other federal agencies fund NCSA. For more information see http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu

For more information, visit http://www.ibm.com/eserver or http://www.ibm.com/intellistation.

(a) The IBM eServer brand consists of the established IBM e-business logo with the following descriptive term "server" following it.

(1) Maximum memory may require replacement of standard memory with optional maximum memory module.

(2) For terms and conditions or copies of IBM's Statement of Limited Warranty, call 1 800 772-2227 in the U.S. and in Canada call 1 800 426-2255. Telephone support may be subject to additional charges.

(3)Pricing is price available from IBM directly; reseller prices may vary. IBM price does not include tax or shipping and is subject to change without notice.

IBM, the e-business logo, AIX, IntelliStation and xSeries are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and other countries.

Intel, Itanium and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.