Research Center Deploys Force10

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Force10 Networks, the pioneer in building and securing reliable networks, today announced that Forschungszentrum Jülich has deployed the TeraScale E-Series® family of switch/routers in its newest supercomputer, which is primed to become the largest in Europe. The Force10 TeraScale E-Series is part of Forschungszentrum Jülich’s newest IBM BlueGene supercomputer.

“With our new BlueGene supercomputer, we are providing scientists throughout Europe with leading edge computing capabilities for computer simulations in a wide range of scientific areas,” said Professor Dr. Dr. Lippert, head of the Forschungszentrum Jülich. “The Force10 E-Series switch can very efficiently support the 208 Ten Gigabit Ethernet ports we require to run the supercomputer and connect to our other systems.”

The Force10 TeraScale E1200 delivers the reliability and scalability that are crucial to ensuring the effectiveness of Forschungszentrum Jülich’s supercomputer. With support for 224 Ten Gigabit Ethernet ports in a single chassis, the Force10 TeraScale E1200 provides the density required to interconnect the supercomputer’s 152 nodes as well as to connect to the research facility’s storage network and existing supercomputer.

IBM’s BlueGene supercomputer is designed to deliver efficiencies in power and cooling through aggressive power management. The Force10 TeraScale E-Series further contributes to these efficiencies by reducing the number of systems required to support the 208 Ten Gigabit Ethernet ports that Forschungszentrum Jülich is utilizing within the supercomputer. The final configuration will include 65,000 processors and have a computing power of 220 trillion arithmetic operations per second.

“Advancing research in sciences and medicine requires high performance machines like the BlueGene supercomputer,” said Stephen Garrison, vice president of marketing at Force10 Networks. “The Force10 TeraScale E-Series found an early home in the research and education space by delivering the reliability and predictability that are essential in high performance computing and provides a complementary addition to the BlueGene solution.”Force10 Networks Inc.