Penn State University Selects Unisys ES7000 for Scale-Up High-Performance Computing; Superior Economics and Systems Management Simplicity Lower Barriers to Research.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers BLUE BELL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 13, 2003 Unisys Corporation (company) Unisys Corporation - The company formed in 1984-5 when Burroughs Corporation merged with Sperry Corporation. This was when the phrase "dinosaurs mating" was coined. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :UIS (graphics, programming) UIS - A VMS graphics programming interface package for VAXstations. ) today announced that The Pennsylvania State University's Information Technology Services (ITS) organization has selected Unisys ES7000 enterprise servers for use in its high-performance computing High-speed computing, which typically refers to supercomputers used in scientific research. (HPC (Handheld PC) A palmtop computer that weighs less than one pound and runs specialized versions of popular applications. Microsoft coined the term for its Windows CE operating system, which is an abbreviated version of Windows. See Pocket PC. ) environment. The technology will help quantify the benefits of using Intel's 64-bit Itanium 2 processor architecture in computing tasks covering a broad set of academic disciplines. These include computational biology Not to be confused with Biologically-inspired computing. Computational biology is an interdisciplinary field that applies the techniques of computer science, applied mathematics, and statistics to address problems inspired by biology. , chemistry, fluid dynamics fluid dynamics n. (used with a sing. verb) The branch of applied science that is concerned with the movement of gases and liquids. , gravitational grav·i·ta·tion n. 1. Physics a. The natural phenomenon of attraction between physical objects with mass or energy. b. The act or process of moving under the influence of this attraction. 2. physics, mathematics, materials science materials science Study of the properties of solid materials and how those properties are determined by the material's composition and structure, both macroscopic and microscopic. and structural mechanics Structural mechanics is the computation of deformations, deflections, and internal forces or stresses (Stress Equivalents) within structures, either for design or for performance evaluation of existing structures. It is one of the subset of structural analysis. . In addition, the technology will be used to support ITS' visualization initiatives for representing business or scientific data as images that can aid in gaining better insight from the data. The ES7000/430 system will be made available to Penn State's faculty and students by the Graduate Education and Research Service (GEaRS) group, a unit of ITS at Penn State. "We believe there are important price-performance benefits that will make scale-up computing on the Intel Itanium 2 processors, such as those offered by the Unisys ES7000/430, the dominant 64-bit architecture over the next few years," said Vijay K. Agarwala, director, GEaRS. "Our ES7000/430 will be particularly useful for researchers who need more than four gigabytes of memory per process and those working with large database applications." The centerpiece of the installation consists of a Unisys ES7000/430 with two domains of 16 Itanium 2 processors at 1.5 GHz each. This clustered technology will provide an alternative approach to how GEaRS currently meets the high-performance computing needs on the campus with over 600 servers containing dual 32-bit Intel Xeon processors MP. Key to the university's choice of server technology was the access to large amounts of shared and high-bandwidth memory that Itanium 2 and the ES7000 will provide. The university will help demonstrate the merits of Intel-based "vertical scaling" -- running applications in a single, expandable environment -- for high-performance computing solutions. Those advantages include the ability to support large databases for applications with data structures that cannot be partitioned easily; an alternative to more labor-intensive methods of load balancing; the ability to use a single operating system image; and simpler systems administration. "By combining the superior economics of commodity component technologies with mainframe-class server design, Unisys, Intel and Penn State are showing how to drive down the cost of high-performance computing to the point where it can be an effective research tool for organizations who once could not afford it," said David Houseman, vice president, Unisys Advanced Technology. About the Graduate Education and Research Services (GEaRS) group The Graduate Education and Research Services (GEaRS) group is a part of Academic Services and Emerging Technologies (ASET ASET Alberta Society of Engineering Technologists (Canada) ASET Automated Security Enhancement Tool ASET Australian Society for Educational Technology ASET Application Specific Engine Technology ), a unit of Information Technology Services (ITS). The GEaRS group strives to meet the computing technology needs of scholars in their education and research endeavors at Penn State. The group pursues cutting-edge advances in research computing technology in partnerships with faculty members and in strong technical collaborations with various technology companies and institutions. More information is available at http://gears.aset.psu.edu/ About Unisys Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions company. Our people combine expertise in systems integration, outsourcing, infrastructure, server technology and consulting with precision thinking and relentless execution to help clients, in more than 100 countries, quickly and efficiently achieve competitive advantage. For more information, visit www.unisys.com RELEASE NO.: 1013/8341 http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/news_a_events/10138341.htm Unisys is a registered trademark of Unisys Corporation. All other brands and products referenced herein are acknowledged to be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. |
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