PLATFORM LAUNCHES BETA VERSION OF COMMERCIAL GLOBUS TOOLKIT.Accelerating the adoption of open source Grid computing grid computing, the concurrent application of the processing and data storage resources of many computers in a network to a single problem. It also can be used for load balancing as well as high availability by employing multiple computers—typically personal , Platform Computing Platform Computing is a privately held software company that is primarily known for its job scheduling product, Load Sharing Facility (LSF). It was founded in 1992 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarter is in Markham, ON. Inc., Toronto, has launched the beta version A pre-shipping release of hardware or software that has gone through alpha test. A beta version of software is supposed to be very close to the final product, but, in practice, it is more a way of getting users to test the software in the first place under real conditions. of Platform Globus, the industry's first commercially supported version of the Globus Toolkit The Globus Toolkit, currently at version 4, is an open source toolkit for building computing grids developed and provided by the Globus Alliance. Standards implementationThe Globus Toolkit is an implementation of the following standards: (operating system) HP-UX - The version of Unix running on Hewlett-Packard workstations. , IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive) IBM's Unix-based operating system which runs on its Intellistation workstations and pSeries, p5, iSeries and i5 server families. , Linux, SGI (SGI, Sunnyvale, CA, www.sgi.com) A manufacturer of workstations and servers, founded in 1982 by Jim Clark. The company was founded as Silicon Graphics, Inc., but changed to its acronym in 1999. IRIX A Unix-based operating system from SGI that is used in its computer systems from desktop to supercomputer. It is an enhanced version of Unix System V Release 4. IRIX integrates the X Window system with OpenGL, creating the first real time 3D X environment. and Sun Solaris, and complements Platform's Grid computing solutions, including Platform LSF LSF Lisofylline, see there MultiCluster, Platform FTA FTA abbr. Future Teachers of America and Platform Analyzer. "Platform Globus accelerates adoption of Grid computing by the commercial sector and provides value-added professional services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. to implement Grids quickly and efficiently," said Paul Hill Paul Hill is the name of:
Platform Globus includes the Globus Toolkit software, documentation and technical support, and a range of comprehensive professional services, including installation, configuration, customization and training. Platform will also provide services for Grid security, design and planning and integration. Based on established standards and open protocols, the Globus Toolkit provides an integrated set of security, resource directory, resource management, data management, and communication functions for Grid computing. Platform is working closely with the Globus Project to perform quality assurance, improve documentation, and achieve interoperability and seamless integration with commercial workload management and Grid computing applications. "As a software company with ten years' experience in distributed and Grid computing and an extensive customer base, Platform is well positioned to deliver a commercially proven open source solution for Grid computing," said Dr. Ian Foster, Globus Project co-lead and Senior Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory, research center, based in Argonne, Ill., 27 mi (43 km) SW of downtown Chicago, with other facilities at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, 50 mi (80 km) W of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Founded in 1946 by the U.S. and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Chicago. "Platform has moved quickly to develop this solution, clearly demonstrating its commitment to open source computing and reinforcing its understanding of the complexities and challenges of commercial Grid computing." "We expect Grid computing to be a dominant technology in the future, enabling global enterprises to harness widely dispersed resources to improve collaboration," said Steven Joachims, Worldwide Marketing Manager, HP Technical Servers. "We plan to leverage the work we are doing with Platform Computing to deliver improved productivity and performance solutions for customers in industries such as automotive and aerospace." "Platform's decision to commercialize Globus validates the market demand for Grid computing," said Tony Hey, Director, UK e-Science Programme and the UK Grid. "With Platform as the commercial provider of Globus Toolkit, customers will have the technical support, product upgrades and training they need for a successful implementation, enabling large scale sharing of resources, applications and compute power." "By providing cross-platform commercial support for the Globus Toolkit, Platform has provided us with a credible reason to evaluate the potential of open source Grid computing," said William Reidy, a contractor supporting the U.S. Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP HPCMP High Performance Computing Modernization Program (DoD) HPCMP High-Performance Computer Monitoring Project ). "This commercially supported solution will permit organizations like ours to accelerate Grid initiatives in dynamic and heterogeneous hardware and software environments." "We are encouraged by the Globus Project's clear commitment to its partnership with Platform, which has accelerated our ability to deliver Platform Globus quickly in what has been a very positive collaboration," continued Platform's Hill. "The Globus Project has been a catalyst in bringing disparate groups together for a common goal of driving Grid deployment and we are proud to be working with them." Platform Globus will be generally available in March 2002 from Platform and its network of global resellers in Canada, China, Europe, Israel, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, the U.S. and Taiwan. Platform Grid Expertise With more than 10 years experience in distributed and Grid computing, Platform offers a complete range of software and consulting solutions needed to build, run and maintain Grids. In November 2001, Platform was the first company to announce commercial support for The Globus Toolkit through Platform Globus. Platform also announced Platform Grid suite, the industry's most powerful commercial Grid computing solution, which integrates Platform's Grid software, Platform LSF, LSF MultiCluster and LSF ActiveCluster, with components from the Globus Project and Avaki. Platform enterprise Grid solutions are being used by customers worldwide including the Monsanto Company, the U.S. Department of Defense, Texas Instruments, and the Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and the Environment (ENEA ENEA Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie l'Energia e l'Ambiente (Italian National Board for New Technology, Energy and the Environment) ENEA European Neuroendocrine Association ENEA European Nuclear Energy Agency ENEA European Nursing Education Association ). For more information please visit the Grid Resource Centre at http://www.platform.com/grid. About The Globus Project The Globus Project(TM) is a multi-institutional research and development effort creating fundamental technologies for computational grids. Grids are persistent environments that enable software applications to integrate instruments, displays, computational and information resources that are managed by diverse organizations in widespread locations. A primary product of the Globus Project is the open source Globus Toolkit, which is being used in numerous large Grid deployment and application projects in the United States, Europe, and around the world. The Globus Project(TM) is based at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute. For more information, visit the Globus Project web site at http://www.globus.org/. About Platform Platform is the world's leading distributed computing software provider, with desktop to Grid solutions that allow organizations to dramatically improve time to market and quality of results, while maximizing their I.T. investment. Platform has strategic relationships with industry leaders including Compaq, HP, IBM, SGI, Sun, LION Bioscience and SAS (1) (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, www.sas.com) A software company that specializes in data warehousing and decision support software based on the SAS System. Founded in 1976, SAS is one of the world's largest privately held software companies. See SAS System. and its open, scalable software solutions are the choice of more than 1,500 result-driven organizations around the world. Platform is a private company with 400 employees in 14 offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, call 905-948-4640 or visit http://www.platform.com/grid or http://www.globus.org. |
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