Unisys and Cornell demo windows-based Unisys ES7000 for scale-up high-performance computing.Unisys recently announced plans to collaborate with the Cornell Theory Center Cornell Theory Center - (CTC) One of four supercomputing centers funded by the US National Science Foundation. The CTC also receives funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Institutes of Health, New York State, IBM Corporation, and other members of the (CTC CTC - Cornell Theory Center ) to demonstrate the value of the Unisys Enterprise Server ES7000 as a platform for use in 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. ) environments. As part of the CTC TechExchange Consortium, Unisys will work with CTC to optimize the performance of HPC solutions for key industry markets using ES7000 servers based on both Intel Itanium 2 (IA-64) and Xeon MP (IA-32) processors. Performance test results and other findings will demonstrate the capabilities of industry-standard Windows- and Intel-based platforms in an area traditionally dominated by clusters of UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). computers and proprietary vector supercomputers. The Unisys ES7000 family of Orion servers will be used to demonstrate the advantages of large-scale multiprocessing multiprocessing Mode of computer operation in which two or more processors (see CPU) are connected and are active at the same time. In such a system, each processor is executing a different program or set of instructions, thus increasing computation speed over a servers based on Microsoft and Intel technology for high-performance computational requirements. These mainframe-class servers handle the largest and most complex enterprise workloads and deliver superior price-performance for Windows server-based mission-critical environments. With the flexibility to configure up to 32 processors, Unisys ES7000 Orion servers can scale far beyond other Intel-based servers while delivering better price-performance than high-end RISC/UNIX based servers. In addition, the servers provide investment protection by supporting future Intel processors. A particular focus of these efforts will be to demonstrate the merits of Windows-based "vertical scaling In multiprocessing, adding more CPUs within the same computer system. Contrast with horizontal scaling. "--running applications in a single, expandable environment--for high-performance computing solutions. Until the introduction of the Unisys ES7000, the advantages of vertical scaling were available only on UNIX-based or other proprietary environments. ES7000 combines the advantages of vertical scaling with the superior economics of computing environments based on open Microsoft and Intel technologies. "Many businesses with large, mission-critical applications can benefit from applying technologies that today are commonly defined as high-performance computing," said Thomas F. Coleman, CTC director. "We aim to show that such enterprises can enjoy the benefits of the largest solutions, without the cost penalties of UNIX-based computing." High-performance clustering has been successfully used in university and research environments for years to solve complex computations and has many practical applications for business. CTC, a global leader in HPC, has demonstrated the value of making the transition from UNIX-based proprietary architectures to industry-standard, Windows-based high-performance computing. Through its CTC High-Performance Solutions initiative, CTC demonstrates the power of Microsoft's .NET software for business, government and academic clients. Now the Cornell Center will apply its expertise to accelerate the deployment of scale-up, single system Windows-based IT infrastructure in the private sector. "Unisys and CTC are focused on showing businesses that they have an alternative to proprietary UNIX-based computers," said Simon Shiach, vice president of Program Marketing, Unisys. "A single ES7000 using standard Intel processors and Microsoft operating systems The following is a list of Microsoft operating systems. For the codenames that Microsoft gave their operating systems, see Microsoft codenames. Before Windows
CTC is a high-performance computing and interdisciplinary research center located on the Ithaca campus of Cornell University Cornell University, mainly at Ithaca, N.Y.; with land-grant, state, and private support; coeducational; chartered 1865, opened 1868. It was named for Ezra Cornell, who donated $500,000 and a tract of land. With the help of state senator Andrew D. . CTC currently operates a Dell/Intel/Windows cluster complex consisting of more than 900 processors. Scientific and engineering projects supported by CTC represent a vast variety of disciplines, including bioinformatics, behavioral and social sciences, computer science, engineering, geosciences, mathematics, physical sciences and business. |
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