"Scyld Computing Corporation today released the Scyld
Beowulf Professional Edition, the latest version of its next
generation cluster operating system software. Professional Scyld
Beowulf greatly simplifies cluster setup, integration and
administration, while providing seamless scalability. Coupled with
documentation and support from the original Beowulf development
team, Professional Scyld Beowulf provides the first true clustering
solution that can be installed and run directly out of the box.
Beowulf cluster systems connect a series of computers together,
using a modified version of Linux, to form a parallel processing
supercomputer. The Scyld Beowulf Operating System improves upon
traditional Beowulf clusters as all operations performed on the
linked cluster nodes are initiated and administered through a
single master node. Its Single System Image (SSI) design makes the
cluster act and feel like a single computer. This drastically
simplifies maintenance and eliminates common pitfalls of clustering
such as version skew and runaway jobs. Scyld Beowulf only needs to
be installed on one master node and will run clusters of hundreds
of compute nodes. Professional Scyld Beowulf is a complete software
system. No other software is required to create the cluster.
For industries such as energy, biotechnology and finance, there
is growing commercial demand for High Performance Computing (HPC)
clusters. Companies are looking for more cost-effective ways to
analyze enormous amounts of data. One example of this demand is in
the petroleum industry, where 3-D seismic modeling is used to
locate oil fields. Because large amounts of data must be processed
to create an image of a complex geology, seismic modeling is a very
compute-intensive process. Such imaging turns raw, unprocessed data
into a coherent image that accurately depicts the situation below
the earth's surface, saving millions in reduced exploration and
drilling costs and improved production."
