The power of the modern HPC Cluster is brought to the end user more often than not through software like StarCD* or Fluent*, two typical applications in the area of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). As long as everything works correctly – or at least as expected – neither the engineer setting up the computations nor the administrator ensuring the smooth work of the cluster actually knows what goes on inside the binary package doing all the calculations.

IBM and Intel Corporation have joined in an initiative aimed at improving how IT managers select, deploy and measure virtualized server solutions for enterprise data centers. Virtualization technology, such as VMware Infrastructure, on Intel-based servers is becoming widely used in production environments and is increasing capturing mid-tier application workloads.

“As mid-sized and large enterprise IT organizations strive to cash in on the cost savings of data center consolidation through server virtualization, hosting applications on larger, more expandable multi-processor servers delivers the best return on investment,” said Jim Northington, vice president, System x, IBM. “Nevertheless, many organizations need the tools to help them select the server platform that works best in their unique environments.”

New 'phase-change' material used in very small cell much faster than flash

SAN FRANCISCO6: Scientists from IBM, Macronix and Qimonda today announced joint research results that give a major boost to a new type of computer memory with the potential to be the successor to flash memory chips, which are widely used in computers and consumer electronics like digital cameras and portable music players.

The advancement heralds future success for "phase-change" memory, which appears to be much faster and can be scaled to dimensions smaller than flash – enabling future generations of high-density "non-volatile" memory devices as well as more powerful electronics. Non-volatile memories do not require electrical power to retain their information. By combining non-volatility with good performance and reliability, this phase-change technology may also enable a path toward a universal memory for mobile applications.

IBM System p5(TM) Servers With Linux(R) Operating System Achieve Top Spot for Eight SPEC Benchmarks(1)

ARMONK, NY - 11 Dec 2006: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that IBM System p5 servers, running the Linux OS, have achieved industry-leading benchmark results that beat HP servers in important measurements of business and scientific performance.

The IBM System p5 servers using the Linux OS surpassed HP Integrity and ProLiant systems in server speed according to recent SPECcpu performance benchmarks. SPECcpu, a software benchmark product produced by the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC), contains two benchmark suites: SPECint for measuring and comparing compute-intensive integer performance and SPECfp for measuring and comparing compute-intensive floating point performance.

Finacle Core Banking Solution on IBM System p Unix Servers Sets a New Unparalleled Scalability Record

BANGALORE, India: IBM and Infosys today announced record-setting results of a performance benchmark for Infosys' Finacle Core Banking Solution running on IBM's System p Servers that far outperform all such published benchmarks by a wide margin. As a result, banks worldwide will be able to process rapidly growing volumes of transactions faster and more reliably at an even lower cost per transaction.

In the recent scalability benchmark, reviewed by Ernst & Young, Finacle on IBM System p servers surpassed its own previous record as the most scalable core banking solution in the world. The Finacle on IBM System p benchmark performed on a base of over 52 million accounts, delivering a transaction throughput on delivery channels at 29,010*1 effective transactions per second (ETPS) beating its own previous best of 11,180*4 ETPS. The new delivery channels transaction processing benchmark translates to a business transaction throughput of 19,288*1 business transactions per second (TPS).