SGI Announces New Generation Of Scalable Workgroup Clusters

SGI has announced the immediate availability of CloudRack X2, a new generation of scalable workgroup clusters for HPC, graphics and Internet applications. The newest addition to the CloudRack product family, CloudRack X2 delivers density and power distribution efficiency with Power XE in a small, five-square-foot form factor. This enables a broad range of new deployment scenarios, including to workgroups, laboratories and traditional HPC environments either as a stand-alone unit mounted on casters for in-lab use or installed in industry-standard, 19-inch racks—especially valuable for heterogeneous computing environments.

CloudRack X2 represents the first time that CloudRack trays are available in HPC-dedicated configurations. The new system now supports high-performance processors and high-speed interconnects, including 40 Gb/sec InfiniBand. As a result, typical HPC installations, including those that run computational structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, electromagnetics, seismic processing, rendering and visualisation applications, can immediately capitalise on the density and thermal advantages of the tray-based CloudRack design.

CloudRack X2 is also ideal for large scale-out deployments into existing rack environments. Customers with traditional rack-mount architectures can leverage the benefits of the CloudRack product line within smaller physical footprints to maximise data centre real estate.

Data centres can use the compact CloudRack X2 as an easy ‘on-ramp’ to larger installations. The 14U high CloudRack X2 has capacity for up to nine CloudRack server trays. The product offers complete build-to-order optimisation with hot-swappable components, and the latest Intel and AMD processors to facilitate integration into any computing environment.

CloudRack X2 enclosures are compatible with a large number of build-to-order trays, including the following two-way and one-way server configurations:

* Two dual-socket Intel Xeon 5500 processor series-based servers per tray
* Six single-socket Intel Atom processor series-based MicroSlice servers per tray
* Two dual-socket, Quad- or Six-Core AMD Opteron 2300 or 2400 processor series-based servers per tray
* Three single-socket AMD Phenom X4 Quad-Core processor series-based MicroSlice servers per tray
* Six single-socket AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core processor series-based MicroSlice servers per tray

CloudRack X2 configurations for Internet and some HPC applications are available now, with graphics, GP-GPU and additional HPC trays to come this quarter.