Cray has announced that it has been awarded a contract from the University of Stuttgart to deliver a new supercomputer to the University’s High Performance Computing Centre (HLRS). The multi-year, multi-phase contract includes the delivery of a Cray XE6 supercomputer and the future delivery of the company’s next-generation supercomputer code-named ‘Cascade’.
Combining Cray’s current Gemini system interconnect with powerful AMD Opteron processors, the XE6 is designed to bring production petascale computing to a new and expanded base of HPC users. Fully upgradeable from the Cray XT5 and Cray XT6 line of supercomputers, the new system delivers improved interconnect performance and features additional enhancements, such as improved network resiliency, a mature and scalable software environment and the ability to run a broad array of ISV applications with the latest version of the Cray Linux Environment.
‘This is an exciting announcement for Cray on a number of fronts. HLRS has been an important partner of ours for many years, and this win in Germany continues to build on our momentum internationally,’ said Peter Ungaro, president and CEO of Cray. ‘HLRS’ strong partnership with the automotive and aerospace industries is also important as we continue to expand our presence in these customer segments.
‘Finally, this contract marks Cray’s first order for our next-generation supercomputer code-named Cascade, which is another major milestone in delivering on our Adaptive Supercomputing vision. We are pleased to be working with HLRS and we look forward to delivering our supercomputing technology to its broad user community,’ Ungaro added.
The company’s Cascade supercomputer will feature a continuing evolution of the Cray Linux Environment, Cray’s HPC-optimised programming environment, a next-generation interconnect chipset follow-on to Gemini, and support for future Intel Xeon processors. The Cascade supercomputer is in part made possible by Cray’s participation in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) High Productivity Computing Systems program.
The XE6 supercomputer is expected to go into production in 2011. The second phase of the contract, the delivery of the Cascade system, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2013.
