Cluster Computing:

PARTNERSHIP DELIVERS NEW LINUX BIOINFORMATICS CLUSTER

Rackable Systems, Inc., a leading provider of large scale, rack-mount server and storage solutions, announced today that the company has signed an agreement with The BioTeam, a leading bio-IT consulting firm based in Boston, MA. The strategic agreement continues a long-term relationship between the two companies to provide turnkey cluster server solutions to the life sciences market. As a result of the alliance, Rackable Systems will bundle iNquiry, The BioTeam's award winning bioinformatics software tools suite, on its optimized compute server platform. See a demonstration of iNquiry powered by Rackable's Linux cluster servers at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo.

The combined solution of Rackable compute servers and The BioTeam's iNquiry solution solves two major problems faced by the bioinformatics industry: cluster server configuration and access to bioinformatics applications. The iNquiry product, initially configured to run on the Apple platform, received an Apple Design Award at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference last month. Rackable will be the first large-scale compute server provider to deliver iNquiry on the Linux operating system platform.

Rackable's high performance Linux servers are pre-configured and application- optimized to deliver out-of-the-box -- ready-to-go performance. Based on a modular, open architecture approach, Rackable compute servers provide tremendous configuration flexibility. Rackable has the capability to deliver customizable solutions for small clusters of five nodes, up to several thousand-node deployments.

"What used to take 2-3 man months, now comes delivered in a fully configured and deployed Linux cluster," said Michael Athanas, Ph.D., and Principal Scientist at The BioTeam. "Together, The BioTeam and Rackable have eliminated the barriers to adopting cluster solutions, while maintaining a scalable architecture that is cost efficient. What previously cost several hundred thousand dollars or more, can now be achieved at an entry price point of just $25K."

"Rackable Systems and The BioTeam have developed a breadth of expertise through the successful completion of several large deployments to date, including Biogen and Pfizer," said Tom Barton, President and CEO of Rackable Systems. "We are thrilled that The BioTeam has selected Rackable to be the cluster server provider of choice to launch iNquiry on the Linux platform, further validating our solutions for the bioinformatics market."

The BioTeam's iNquiry is a comprehensive software package that includes over 200 bioinformatics applications that are made accessible via a consistent web interface. This makes it an ideal solution for scientists, and now for non- Unix users in the life sciences market, by making it feasible for them to harness the power of scalable cluster computing. The package includes some of the most commonly used tools like BLAST, HMMer and Emboss suite, accessible through a simple Web interface portal. The Rackable and BioTeam solution dramatically reduces the time it takes to install, configure and initiate a working bioinformatics cluster.

"We're very excited about the opportunity to extend our relationship with Rackable to deliver out-of-the-box cluster solutions," said Stan Gloss, Managing Director, and Founding Partner of The BioTeam. "The BioTeam has installed many Rackable systems to date and we are extremely pleased with the quality, reliability and serviceability of their server offerings."