Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home IT Management
    • IT Management
    • Networking
    • Storage

    Appro Combines Intel, Nvidia Chips in HPC Cluster

    By
    Jeff Burt
    -
    May 18, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Appro is rolling out a high-performance computing cluster that combines Intel’s Nehalem server chip and Nvidia’s Tesla graphics processor.

      Appro’s HyperPower Cluster, announced May 18, is the latest move by systems makers to pull together CPUs and GPUs to offer improved computing performance at lower costs and with greater energy efficiency.

      “There’s always been a need in HPC to find creative ways to run code faster, and there’s always been an interest in specialized CPUs,” John Lee, vice president of advanced technology solutions for Appro, said in an interview.

      However, that hasn’t caught hold because of the difficulty in scaling a specialized chip industry to meet the demand, Lee said. Appro officials have been looking at the idea of graphics processing units for several years, but it wasn’t until now that it made sense, Lee said.

      He gave much of the credit to Nvidia, which has been aggressive in pushing its GPUs into the mainstream computing space.

      “Nvidia is taking such a leadership role,” Lee said. “They’re driving demand that way.”

      Others also are moving in that direction. Advanced Micro Devices, which bought GPU making ATI for $5.4 billion in 2006, announced May 6 that it was merging its chips and graphics businesses, bringing the ATI unit fully into the AMD fold.

      During AMD’s annual stockholders meeting a day later, President and CEO Dirk Meyer said that combining the company’s CPU and GPU businesses was a key differentiator for the company going forward.

      “Only two companies in the world can develop and deliver in volume leading-edge x86 processor solutions,” Meyer said during his talk. “Only two companies in the world can develop leading-edge graphics, and only one company-and that is AMD-has the ability to do both.”

      In addition, Intel is working on offering integrated graphics in its upcoming CPUs, and is working on its own GP-GPU chip, codenamed “Larrabee.”

      However, both AMD and Intel have a way to go before they catch up with Nvidia in the GPU space.

      “[Nvidia’s] GP-GPU is definitely ahead of AMD Fusion [initiative for bringing together its CPU and GPU capabilities], and Intel’s Larrabee won’t even come out for years,” Lee said.

      Appro’s Lee said that for businesses willing to do the necessary coding to make their workloads run on GPUs, their cost savings over running CPU-only platforms could be significant.

      A key difference between CPUs and GPUs is the number of cores on a piece of silicon, he said. While x86 compute chips can hold up to four cores-with promises of six, eight and 12 down the road-a GP-GPU (general purpose GPU) can have 800 or more cores, Lee said.

      For workloads to take advantage of such numbers, they need to be able to be broken up into many pieces, and to have those pieces distributed among the cores. So while the GPU may not run as fast as a CPU, because they are so many more cores, workload can be accomplished more quickly.

      Businesses can see improvements in processing performance of 10 or more over CPU-only environments, Lee said, which is important to companies being asked to do some legwork up front.

      “There has to be an ROI story to this,” he said. “The return needs to be worthwhile [to the business]. Ten times gets to that point. … That’s the part that Nvidia is working hard on.”

      Appro’s HyperPower Cluster can execute thousands of concurrent throughput parallel processing threads for problems that need high mathematical computational capabilities. The cluster includes Appro’s high-density servers paired with an equal number of Nvidia Tesla S1070 servers.

      The cluster includes interconnect switches for node-to-node communication, a master node and clustering software in a 42U rack configuration.

      It supports up to 304 CPU cores and 18,240 GPU cores.

      IT managers also can use the Nvidia CUDA toolkit, which enables users to take advantage of the massively parallel architecture. Customers also get a choice of configurations and open-source cluster management software.

      Jeff Burt
      Jeffrey Burt has been with eWEEK since 2000, covering an array of areas that includes servers, networking, PCs, processors, converged infrastructure, unified communications and the Internet of things.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×