CNET News: HP Enlists Linux Supercomputer Ally

“Hewlett-Packard has signed a partnership with Linux NetworX
under which each company will use technology from the other for
lower-cost supercomputers, the companies plan to announce
Wednesday.

“Linux NetworX will use HP’s Itanium 2 servers as components in
its systems, while HP will use the start-up’s ClusterworX software
to help manage supercomputers made of interconnected smaller
systems. ClusterworX handles tasks such as installing software
simultaneously on several computers, monitoring processor usage,
and taking automatic actions such as shutting off a computer if a
fan fails.

“For Intel, supercomputing is a good market in which to try to
secure customers for its still-new Itanium processor family, which
works very differently from the established Celeron-Pentium-Xeon
lineage and thus requires software to be rewritten. Supercomputer
customers are willing to pay a premium for better mathematical
abilities–which Itanium possesses in spades–and often run their
own programs, so they aren’t as dependent on outside software
companies to provide support…”

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