SGI Altix 3000 Servers Make OracleWorld Debut
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Further extending its leadership in technical and scientific computing environments, SGI today announced that its acclaimed SGI(R) Altix(TM) 3000 systems will be featured at OracleWorld, the annual gathering of Oracle(R) software users, which continues through Sept. 11 in San Francisco. For the first time at OracleWorld, SGI will demonstrate a 16-processor Altix 3000 server in the Intel booth (#1512). “Since its inception, SGI has been intensely focused on delivering solutions for the world’s most demanding computer users,” said Dave Parry, senior vice president and general manager, Server and Platform Group, SGI. “With the introduction of the SGI Altix 3000 family, now with full SuSE Linux support, SGI provides an ideal solution for users whose technical or scientific applications interact with large-scale databases and enterprise infrastructure software. With the Altix 3000 system’s scalability, reliability, record-setting throughput and screaming performance, we expect to extend our leadership in these markets. SGI’s appearance at OracleWorld builds on several recent announcements extending the company’s offerings for users of large-scale technical and scientific databases. Last month, SGI and SuSE Linux announced that SGI will bundle SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 on SGI Altix 3000 servers and superclusters, and SuSE Linux will support the unique 64-processor single-node scaling capabilities of the SGI Altix 3000 platform. As a result, SGI and SuSE can deliver large-scale systems — with nodes from 4 to 64 and soon to 128 processors — capable of addressing high-performance computing and technical database requirements. SGI today also unveiled plans to support Intel’s new Low Voltage Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processor at 1.0Ghz with 1.5 MB L3 cache and the 1.40 GHz Intel Itanium 2 processor with 1.5MB L3 Cache in an upcoming model of the SGI Altix family. The new Altix server will establish a lower entry price point and extend the superior price-performance of Altix into smaller departmental and database deployments. (See related release: http://www.sgi.com/newsroom) SGI expects its latest offerings to make additional inroads with customers who already rely on SGI(R) systems to run such applications as computational fluid dynamics and 3D design simulation, molecular modeling and drug design, genetic research, and seismic and subsurface data analysis. In these environments, large-scale databases present sophisticated computing challenges that are difficult or impossible for other hardware platforms and Linux(R) distributions — which support only small systems and partitions running Linux — to handle. In January, SGI announced the SGI Altix 3000 family of servers and superclusters, which combine SGI supercomputing architecture with Intel Itanium 2 processors and the Linux operating system. Altix is recognized as the first Linux cluster that scales up to 64 processors within each node and the first cluster to allow global shared-memory access across nodes. Inspired by the success of the SGI Altix family and the powerful combination of standard Linux running on 64-bit Intel(R) processors, more than 60 high-performance manufacturing, science, energy and environmental applications have been ported by their commercial developers to the 64-bit Linux environment, over half of which have certified and optimized their code for differentiated performance on the Altix platform. Availability Scalable Altix 3000 systems are available today in server configurations of 4 to 64 processors, and supercluster configurations of 4 to 128 processors. For customers demanding even larger Altix superclusters, SGI anticipates supporting configurations of 512 processors in October 2003 and 1,024 processors in May 2004. SGI also recently announced plans to extend the industry-leading scalability of its SGI(R) Altix(TM) 3000 servers to encompass a record 128 processors within a single instance of the Linux(R) operating environment. Also, a new mid-range SGI Altix server configuration, supporting 1 to 16 Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors, is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2004. Additional Altix system technical and availability information is posted on http://www.sgi.com/servers/altix. This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding financial and contractual commitments that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely unduly on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future or current performance. Such risks and uncertainties include long-term program commitments, the performance of third parties, the sustained performance of current and future products, financing risks, the ability to integrate and support a complex technology solution involving multiple providers and users, and other risks detailed from time to time in the company’s most recent SEC reports, including its reports on From 10-K and Form 10-Q. About SGI SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc., is the world’s leader in high-performance computing, visualization and storage. SGI’s vision is to provide technology that enables the most significant scientific and creative breakthroughs of the 21st century. Whether it’s sharing images to aid in brain surgery, finding oil more efficiently, studying global climate or enabling the transition from analog to digital broadcasting, SGI is dedicated to addressing the next class of challenges for scientific, engineering and creative users. SGI was named on FORTUNE magazine’s 2003 list of “Top 100 Companies to Work For.” With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and can be found on the Web at http://www.sgi.com/. NOTE: Silicon Graphics, SGI, and the SGI logo are registered trademarks and Altix and NUMAflex are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Intel and Itanium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT: Ginny Babbitt, +1-650-933-4519, or CONTACT: Ginny Babbitt, +1-650-933-4519, or Web site: http://www.sgi.com/
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840
Hotline, +1-650-933-7777, or SGI PR Fax, +1-650-932-0737