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As the Linux community convenes in Boston this week at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo (February 14-17, 2005 at the Hynes Convention Center), Silicon Graphics (NYSE: SGI) today announced that the latest version of its SGI ProPack(TM) software performance suite is now fully supported on SUSE(R) LINUX Enterprise Server 9. SGI ProPack(TM) 4, available as an option for SUSE LINUX users, extends the popular, industry- standard Linux(R) distribution to help meet customer demand for solutions to high-performance computing, storage, and visualization problems.
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Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc (Nasdaq:CRAY) reported that recent High Performance Computing (HPC) Challenge benchmark tests show that the Cray XD1(TM) Opteron/Linux-based supercomputer outperforms systems of similar size and price. The Cray XD1 system, which is being demonstrated at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in Boston this week, scored first in one of the eight HPC Challenge performance categories and second in two others, resulting in the highest rating overall in its class and some of the best scores among all the systems tested regardless of size and price.
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Discreet released new versions of inferno, flame and flint, updating its visual effects systems to versions 5, 8 and 8 respectively. Digital Media Net’s Charlie White visited the company’s Montreal headquarters, where Discreet officials and demo artists offered a close-up look at the new features in its flame 8 effects software.
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Another unique feature is something you can do mainly because of the system’s awesome SGI-furnished bandwidth. Macs and PCs can’t hold a candle to this — SGIs are the only computers that can synch full resolution playback on the computer monitor while simultaneously showing you the same footage on a broadcast HD monitor.
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HP is working to take Linux into several new areas of the server market, including 64-processor servers and better integration of its management software with open source sever packages, the company is expected to announce on Wednesday, shortly before a major Linux trade show.
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Silicon Graphics already sells Linux servers with a single copy of Linux running on as many as 2,048 processors in extreme cases.
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