Cornell Theory Center Extends Server Clustering Expertise with Development of InfiniBand Solution

Business Wire, Sept 9, 2002

Business Editors

ITHACA, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2002

The Cornell Theory Center (CTC):

Cornell Theory Center to Develop 16 Server Cluster with InfiniBand

Experts InfiniSwitch and Intel

The Cornell Theory Center (CTC), Cornell University's high-performance computing and interdisciplinary research center, announced that it plans to extend its expertise in server cluster technology with development of a 16 node Windows based server cluster utilizing InfiniBand architecture.

The Center will use products and technology expertise from industry leaders including InfiniSwitch and Intel Corp. InfiniBand architecture is a new data center technology that improves performance of server clusters utilizing industry standard technology.

"Cornell has a long history in working with technology leaders to provide leading standards based clustering solutions." said Dave Lifka, CTC's CTO. "InfiniBand architecture extends standards based high performance clustering capability to the cluster fabric. We look forward to working with InfiniSwitch and Intel Corp in the delivery of the InfiniBand solution."

The InfiniBand cluster project consists of 16 Intel architecture based Xeon processor servers configured together within an InfiniBand fabric. The fabric is expected to be the first Windows based InfiniBand cluster in production.

"CTC's plans to configure an InfiniBand cluster signals the starting gate for InfiniBand deployment." said Jim Pappas, director of initiative marketing for Intel's Enterprise Platform Group. "We have worked with CTC for years on delivery of some of the most capable server clusters in the world. We look forward to working closely with them and leading industry players on delivering their InfiniBand cluster."

"This is an important event in InfiniBand and InfiniSwitch's evolution," said Jean Hoxie-Wasko, vice president of marketing at InfiniSwitch Corporation, a leading InfiniBand switch provider. "We are pleased to have our InfiniBand switching solution selected by Cornell for configuration in its 16-node server cluster, demonstrating real-world application and customer benefit in the financial sector."

InfiniBand architecture is a new I/O technology that improves that way data centers will be built, deployed and managed. The 1.0 InfiniBand specifications were completed in October, 2000. Solutions based on InfiniBand architecture are expected in the market early next year.

About the Cornell Theory Center

CTC is a high-performance computing and interdisciplinary research center located on the Ithaca campus of Cornell University. CTC has recently announced an agreement with Dell, Intel, and Microsoft to develop and deliver CTC High-Performance Solutions, a suite of industry standards-based high-performance computing (HPC) solutions and services for business, government and academic clients. 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.

For more information:

CTC: http:www.tc.cornell.edu

CTC High-Performance Solutions: http:www.ctc-hpc.com