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IBM Unveils Next Generation Supercomputer

IBM offered clients a glimpse of the future of supercomputers with the introduction of a pre-release version of a new sleek, high-density POWER5- based server system that can be easily clustered for high performance supercomputing.

Previewed for the first time at the SC2004 Conference in Pittsburgh, the new p5-575 is a thin, blade server-like system, and will extend on the success of the eServer p655 -- a system which has been at the core of supercomputing solutions that power work in areas such as genome research, automotive crash- testing, petroleum exploration, and oceanographic, atmospheric and energy studies.

"Today we have offered the supercomputing community a glimpse into stunning new technology with POWER5 systems taking on an entirely new form," said Karl Freund, vice president of IBM pSeries. "IBM engineers have pushed server design to a new level -- combining innovative, high-density design with cutting edge technologies to enhance speed and performance in a remarkably small device."

IBM intends to deliver extraordinary innovations in the p5-575, bringing the systems to the forefront of 'off the shelf' supercomputing technology. The new systems use multi-chip packaging technology innovations to provide high-speed connections between eight POWER5 processors. These innovations and new developments in shared memory and high-bandwidth connections between nodes are designed to provide new levels of performance required for high performance computing.

The new technology allows up to 64 eight processor p5-575 cluster nodes to create a single high-performance system with stunning performance capabilities -- which when released will bring high density configurations and ease of administration to IBM clients with intense supercomputing application needs.

Built on IBM's industry-leading 64-bit POWER5 technology, the p5-575 is planned to be available with 1.9 GHz POWER5 processors and support for AIX 5L Version 5.2 and 5.3, as well as Linux operating systems. The p5-575 will have a distinctive single-core implementation of IBM POWER5 processor technology -- with 36 MB of dedicated cache memory for each core. While the versatile p5- 575 nodes will be able to be clustered together for computationally complex supercomputing applications, they will additionally be well-suited for deployment in support of large scale data mining and business intelligence applications.

IBM Cluster 1600 is a highly scalable cluster solution that will support up to 64 p5-575 nodes with up to 512 processors. IBM plans to extend the capabilities of the IBM eServer pSeries High Performance Switch (HPS) to the IBM eServer p5 575 system by the second quarter of 2005.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key IBM Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.