Features:

IS WINDOWS NT SERVER AN OS FOR HPC?

by Christopher Lazou
There are some new developments concerning operating systems for HPC which are challenging conventional wisdom. Christopher Lazou asks Dr. Gerd Heber, senior research associate in the Cornell Fracture Group at the CTC, to give his thoughts on these changes.

MATTERS OF REFLECTION

by J. William Bell, NCSA Access magazine editor
A global team gauges the capability of a laser pulse to control the shock structures in high-speed aircraft engines.

COMPUTERS USED TO MORPH FOSSILS BACK TO ORIGINAL SHAPES

Tammy Dunlavey, a master's degree candidate in the Department of Geology at the University of Buffalo, and her colleagues are working on a computational method to morph fossils back to their original shapes by calculating and excising the deformation.

HERE THERE BE DATA: MAPPING THE LANDSCAPE OF SCIENCE

Ancient maps of the world might hold a warning to would-be explorers: Here there be monsters. For today's explorers seeking to navigate and understand the world of science, the monsters are the untamed collections of data that inhabit a largely uncharted landscape.

AMD AND INTEL LARGELY IN HARMONY ON X86-64

An independent analysis by In-Stat/MDR's Microprocessor Report indicates that the 64-bit x86 architectures from AMD and Intel are almost, but not quite, identical.

Cluster Computing:

APPRO LAUNCHES THE HYPERBLADE MID-CLUSTER SOLUTION

Appro, a leading developer of high-density, high-performance servers demonstrated its new HyperBlade Mid-Cluster designed to work with a standard 19" rack cabinet.

LINUX SUITE FOR AMD OPTERON, ATHLON64 PROCESS AVAILABLE

PathScale, Inc., developer of innovative software and hardware solutions to accelerate the performance and efficiency of Linux clusters, is now accepting orders for its industry-leading suite of high-performance Linux compilers for AMD Opteron and Athlon64 processor-based systems.

CALIFORNIA TECHIES TRY TO MAKE SUPERCOMPUTER

On April 3, FlashMob I, the first FlashMob supercomputer in the world, was created on the University of San Francisco (USF) campus.

INFINICON, PENGUIN PARTNER TO DELIVER CLUSTERS FOR HPC

InfiniCon Systems announced that Penguin Computing has joined InfiniCon's Authorized Solutions Alliance Partner (ASAP) program. The agreement enables Penguin to market and resell InfiniCon's InfinIO family of 10- to 30-Gbps InfiniBand-based solutions.

SCYLD SHIPS NEW 64-BIT, 32-BIT VERSIONS OF BEOWULF OS

Scyld Software, the leader in second-generation Beowulf clustering software, announced the immediate availability of the 29-series release of Scyld Beowulf for the Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron platforms.

PENGUIN INTROS TURNKEY 64-BIT AND 32-BIT CLUSTER SYSTEMS

Penguin Computing, the leading innovator of highly scalable Linux cluster, server and workstation platforms, announced the immediate availability of turnkey Linux cluster systems based on the AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon architectures.

High Performance Ads:

• Our Cluster Works. Will Yours?
  
  
• Husqvarna Sweden Adopts MSC.Software's MasterKey License System For
  Virtual Product Development.

Vendor Spotlight:

MICROSOFT, SUN ENTER BROAD COOPERATION AGREEMENT

Microsoft Corporation and Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced that they have entered into a broad technology collaboration arrangement to enable their products to work better together and to settle all pending litigation between the two companies.

SGI DELIVERS SGI INFINITESTORAGE DATA LIFECYCLE MGT SERVER

Addressing the intensifying challenges of managing increasing amounts of data over time, Silicon Graphics, the world's leader in high- performance computing, storage and visualization announced the SGI InfiniteStorage Data Lifecycle Management Server (DLM Server).

HP DRIVES DOWN COST OF STORAGE AREA NETWORKING

HP announced innovative storage solutions designed to help customers drive down storage area network (SAN) cost and simplify SAN integration and management based on industry standards.

BLACK & DECKER, DEWALT UK INVEST IN MSC'S SIMDESIGNER

MSC.Software Corp. announced that the Black & Decker UK and its subsidiary DeWalt have invested in SimDesigner from MSC.Software.

PATHSCALE'S COMPILERS OFFERED W/ IBM DEPARTMENTAL SOLUTIONS

PathScale announced it has signed a non-exclusive teaming agreement with IBM to jointly market PathScale's high-performance AMD64-optimized Linux compiler suite to IBM HPC customers on a global basis.

IBM OFFERS NEW DEPARTMENTAL SUPERCOMPUTING SOLUTIONS

IBM announced new Departmental Supercomputing Solutions, a variety of prepackaged, pre-tested cluster configurations that deliver easy to manage high-performance compute power at an affordable price.

ETNUS TOTALVIEW 6.4 ADDS LINUX FEATURES, DISTRIBUTIONS

Etnus, the provider of TotalView, the most advanced debugger on Linux and UNIX, announced the availability of TotalView 6.4, which increases support for Linux including new distributions and compilers, and Linux- specific debugging features.

Quote of the Week:

• Glenn Montano, a USF senior majoring
  in computer science regarding Flashmob attempt

DATABASE MANAGEMENT MOVES INTO GRID MCNC-RDI INTROS INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AT GGF CONFERENCE

News Briefs:

Hardware

• IBM Celebrates 40 Years Of Mainframe Technology
• MIPS, Synopsys Announce Galaxy Design Platform Ref Flow
• eInfochips Launches Physical Design Services

Software

• Sun Delivers Next Level Of Solaris 10 OS Functionality
• E-Plus Relies On Sun's Java Enterprise System
• Sun, Rackable Offer Solaris OS On Rackable X86 Servers
• Filehand Announces Google-Like File Searching For Windows
• UGS PLM Unveils Parasolid Geometric Modeling For The Mac
• MathWorks Unveils Genetic Algorithm, Direct Search Toolbox
• Visual Numerics' IMSL Fortran 5.0 Library Now Available
• Discreet Ships smoke 6 On Intel-Based IBM Linux Workstation
• Fastest Linux Compiler Suite For AMD64 Systems Available

Networking

• Xilinx Extends High-Speed Leadership w/ RocketIO Design
• Rambus, Teradyne Raise Bar On 10 Gbps Backplane Performance
• Steelcloud To Build Security Appliance For Borderware
• COPLINK Intros Analytic Arch For Info Sharing Initiatives
• Tsinghua U Selects Infiniband Fabric For HPC Cluster
• Infinicon, Scali Demo Leading-Edge Application Scaling
• Polyserve Delivers NAS Price/Performance Breakthroughs
• Apple Computer And Bioteam Present Bioinformatics Cluster

Storage

• Decru Extends Storage Security With Datafort 2.0 Platform
• SGI Infinitestorage Products Compliant With New Standards
• New Storage Performance Records Set

General

• HPC User Forum To Focus On Manufacturing, I/O Architectures
• TopCoder Announces 32 Semifinalists For Collegiate Challenge

Short Takes:

Product Watch:

Zero G Supports Windows on Intel Platforms.
Altera Benchmarks Show Performance Lead.
Intel To Roll Out Lead-Free Chips.

Financial Update:

Cray Inc. Completes Octigabay Acquisition.
Sun Reports Preliminary Third Qtr Results.
Gateway Closing All Its Retail Stores.

Corporate Liaisons:

Microsoft Wins Round In Name Case.
AlterPoint Joins IBM PartnerWorld.
Dell To Load Oracle Sw On Servers.

People and Position:

Sun Appoints Schwartz President, COO.
Farber Appt Chief Sci For Lambdarail.
Sun Appts Loiacono As Exec VP Of SW.

HPCwire Job Bank

This Week's Career Opportunities From: Accenture Adaptec ANU CDAC ClearSpeed    Comp. Assets  Cray Indiana U ITaP LBNL   NCAR NCSA Noesis OctigaBay  PSC   RadStone SAIC Shaolin Micro U of Edinburgh

Conferences & Events

HPCwire notes events and highlights a complete listing of industry-related conferences, exhibitions, meetings, etc.

Last Week's Most Read Articles:

1. EXPERT OPINION: THE COMING CRISIS IN COMPUTATIONAL SCI (III)
2. SGI'S DAVE PARRY SPEAKS OUT ON PRODUCTION READY LINUX
3. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: EXPLANATION FOR THE HIGH END CRUSADER
4. MICROSOFT EXEC CONCEDES WORST GOOF