Unisys and Cornell demo windows-based Unisys ES7000 for scale-up high-performance computing - Product Announcement

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Oct 14, 2002

Unisys recently announced plans to collaborate with the Cornell Theory Center (CTC) to demonstrate the value of the Unisys Enterprise Server ES7000 as a platform for use in high-performance computing (HPC) 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 computers and proprietary vector supercomputers.

The Unisys ES7000 family of Orion servers will be used to demonstrate the advantages of large-scale multiprocessing 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"--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 can handle the most intensive computing jobs as well as, if not better than, a roomful of UNIX servers."

CTC is a high-performance computing and interdisciplinary research center located on the Ithaca campus of Cornell University. 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.