NUMAFlex-New Computer Architecture SGI

Silicon Graphics introduced the public a series of servers and workstations with the new architecture, with which the company hopes to regain lost ground in the market of Unix-based systems. The architecture NUMAFlex, embodied in the Origin 3000 servers and workstations swelling 3000, the computer consists of modules that SGI He calls the "bricks» («bricks»). The modules are installed in a common rack and connected to a patented high-speed bus, developed by SGI. The architecture allows you to expand the system to sootvegstvii to your needs by adding new functional units. The minimum configuration of a server or workstation 3200 Series includes the C-brick - the processor module with a 400-MHz MIPS R12000 processor and 512 MB ​​of memory and I-brick - I / O module two disk drives Fibre Channel, DVD-ROM drive and five slots PCI. As standard, the processor module will contain two processors (the maximum number - 8), 16 GB of memory and 17 I / O connectors. Model 3400 Series can accommodate up to 32 processors and have 64 GB of memory and 88 I / O connectors. Older model series 3800, according to SGI, provide up to 512 processors, 1TB of memory, 1528 I / O connectors and thousands of gigabytes of disk space. SGI will release a processor modules based on the Itanium processors and subsequent Intel, as well as on the basis of the CPU R14000 and R16000 and future dual processor MIPS. For the new architecture of the modules produced P-brick, supporting up to 12 PCI-devices, G-brick with the graphics processor SGI Infinite Reality Graphics Engine, and the unit of disk space and a binding module "processor-memory". In computers based on MIPS processors will use the operating system Irix, and models based on the Itanium - Linux, although the latter only supports up to 16 processors, unlike Irix, which is designed for 512 processors or more. Prices of new systems will start at $ 50 thousand ., although the most probable price a minimum configuration will be about $ 100 thousand. According to experts, computers for computing tasks, such as modeling of gene expression patterns, will cost about half a million dollars, computers B tems aided design - two million, and powerful systems for university computing centers - to $ 10 million.

Posted By: Wasim Javed