SGI Announces the Scalable Workgroup Cluster

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SGI (NASDAQ:SGI) today announced the immediate availability of CloudRack X2, a new generation of scalable workgroup clusters for HPC, graphics and Internet applications. The newest addition to the CloudRack product family, CloudRack X2 delivers extreme density and 99 percent power distribution efficiency with Power XE in a small, 5-square-foot form factor. This enables a broad range of new deployment scenarios, including to workgroups, laboratories and traditional HPC environments either as a stand-alone unit mounted on casters for in-lab use or installed in industry-standard, 19-inch racks--especially valuable for heterogeneous computing environments.

CloudRack X2 represents the first time that CloudRack trays are available in HPC-dedicated configurations. The new system now supports high-performance processors and high-speed interconnects, including 40 Gb/sec InfiniBand. As a result, typical HPC installations, including those that run computational structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, electromagnetics, seismic processing, rendering and visualization applications, can immediately capitalize on the many performance, density and thermal advantages of the tray-based CloudRack design.

CloudRack X2 is also ideal for large scale-out deployments into existing rack environments. Customers with traditional rack-mount architectures can leverage the benefits of the CloudRack product line within smaller physical footprints to maximize data center real estate. One-way MicroSlice architecture-based single-socket servers reach extreme price/performance ratios, ideal for Internet applications and workloads.

"The CloudRack X2 is a workgroup cluster done right," said Mark J. Barrenechea, president and CEO of SGI. "Customers can scale at 24 or 216 core increments, with support for low- to high-power processors, and incorporate high-end graphics or GP-GPU processing, if needed. The CloudRack X2 is a great example of how SGI focuses on power, cooling and density."

Data centers can immediately evaluate CloudRack technology benefits and use the more compact CloudRack X2 as an easy "on-ramp" to larger installations. The 14U high CloudRack X2 has capacity for up to nine CloudRack server trays. The product offers complete build-to-order optimization with hot-swappable components, and the latest Intel and AMD processors to maximize flexibility and facilitate integration into any computing environment.