Six-Fold Increase in Processing Power Will Boost Military and Civil Engineering Projects
SEATTLE, WA, Jan 08, 2007 -- Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAY) today announced that it has won an order to provide two of the world's most powerful supercomputers to the DoD supercomputing center hosted by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 2007. Together, the supercomputers will give a six-fold boost to the current computing capabilities of the ERDC, which supports military and civil engineering projects in the United States and around the world on behalf of the Department of Defense (DoD) High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP). The announcement also ensures that Mississippi will continue to be among the leaders in the nation in total installed supercomputing capability. Financial terms of the award from the HPCMP were not disclosed.
In the first quarter of 2007, Cray is scheduled to double the peak performance of the Cray XT3(TM) supercomputer at the ERDC Major Shared Resource Center (MSRC) to over 40 teraflops (trillion floating point operations per second) by upgrading the system to dual-core AMD Opteron(TM) processors and doubling the memory. In addition, the award calls for the installation of a new Cray XT4(TM) supercomputer in late 2007 with peak performance of approximately 80 teraflops. The two systems will secure the ERDC MSRC's position as one of the most capable high performance computing centers in the world.
The ERDC supercomputing center provides critical support to the nation's armed forces. Its capabilities are available to users around the world 24/7, and enable DoD-wide research and development programs. These important computational projects include "Challenge Projects," some of the most important computational projects in the Department.
The Cray systems at ERDC will be the largest systems in the Department of Defense's HPCMP and among the largest systems anywhere in the world.
"Our users will be able to advance their critical research on one of the world's most powerful and efficient supercomputers," said John West, director of the ERDC Major Shared Resource Center. "We're particularly excited about the opportunity to provide such a dramatic increase in capability for our users while building upon familiar, proven technology that won't disrupt our users' workflow."
"This is a huge boost in our ability to solve the most complex science and engineering problems for the Army and the Department of Defense," said Dr. Deborah F. Dent, acting director of the ERDC Information Technology Laboratory, which hosts the MSRC. "These systems form the computational backbone of the support we provide to the Defense mission. This new enhancement will enable us to continue to be a leader in providing computational capabilities and expertise for our DoD users worldwide."
"We are excited to build one of the largest supercomputers in the U.S. Department of Defense at ERDC, leveraging our partnership and their current Cray XT3 supercomputer," said Cray President and CEO Peter Ungaro. "Cray supercomputers are built from the ground up to provide scalable, balanced systems designed to support the world's most demanding applications, such as those used by the DoD in their very important missions. We look forward to the continued partnership with ERDC and the U.S. Department of Defense in their High Performance Computing Modernization Program."
The Cray XT4 system builds upon the highly successful Cray XT3 supercomputer, providing enhanced scalability, performance and reliability in a system that is easily upgradeable to protect a customer's investment for years to come. Both systems use AMD Opteron processors connected via an innovative, high-speed internal network and are designed for very efficient, reliable operation at large scale.
About ERDC
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is the premier research and development facility for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with more than 2,000 employees, $1.2 billion in facilities, and an annual research program exceeding $700 million. ERDC conducts research for the Department of Defense and the nation in both military and civil works mission areas, including Warfighter Support, Information Technology, Installations, Environment, and Water Resources.
About the HPCMP
The HPCMP was initiated in 1992 in response to congressional direction to modernize the Department of Defense (DoD) laboratories' high performance computing capabilities. The HPCMP provides the supercomputer services, high-speed network communications, and computational science expertise that enable the Defense laboratories and test centers to conduct a wide range of focused research, development, and test activities. This partnership puts advanced technology in the hands of U.S. forces more quickly, less expensively, and with greater certainty of success.
About the Cray XT4 Supercomputer
The Cray XT4 supercomputer system is designed for superior scalability and unsurpassed sustained performance on a wide range of scientific applications. It employs thousands of AMD Opteron(TM) processors running a lightweight operating system tuned to optimize sustained application performance. Processors are interconnected on a high-bandwidth, low-latency communications network custom designed for scale by Cray, based on HyperTransport(TM) technology and the unique Cray SeaStar(TM) routing and communications chip.
About Cray Inc.
As a global leader in supercomputing, Cray provides highly advanced supercomputers and world-class services and support to government, industry and academia. Cray technology enables scientists and engineers to achieve remarkable breakthroughs by accelerating performance, improving efficiency and extending the capabilities of their most demanding applications. Cray's Adaptive Supercomputing vision will result in innovative next-generation products that integrate diverse processing technologies into a unified architecture, allowing customers to surpass today's limitations and meeting the market's continued demand for realized performance. Go to
www.cray.com for more information.
