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Company Success Stories - Racksaver
Racksaver Builds Supercomputers with AMD Athlon™ Processors
Profile
Racksaver
July 1, 2001
"High-density servers are powering a new generation of Linux-based Beowulf clusters."
Time, as the saying goes, is money. Yet the same is true about space--floor space--that is. That’s why the San Diego-based company, Racksaver is garnering increasing amounts of attention.
In the world of high-density servers and Beowulf cluster supercomputers, Racksaver has been turning heads recently. “We feel we are offering higher density servers than anyone else,” says David Driggers, President of Racksaver. “And we’ve been very successful selling clusters built with AMD Athlon™ processors.”
Racksaver opened its doors ten years ago as a corporate reseller, later evolving into an industrial manufacturer. Now Racksaver can provide its customers with 84 servers loaded into a single rack. Each rack is measured in units called simply “U’s,” which are 1.75 inches high. Each rack is 42U’s tall, which is slightly over six feet.
Racksaver's technological leaps, in terms of cooling, layout and design, are best appreciated from a historical perspective. The first supercomputers were super only in size, heat and power consumption. These early computers filled entire rooms and provided less computational power than today's video games. One of the first post World War II computers, the 1947 ENIAC, dimmed the lights of Philadelphia every time it was turned on. And the ENIAC produced temperatures of 130 degrees that kept workers wearing bathing suits. Now, thanks to Racksaver's innovations (a proprietary cooler and a
proprietary layout of the chassis design) a system featuring 84 AMD Athlon processor-based servers could easily fit into your average walk-in closet.
While the desire to pack more computing power into less space is common, the ability to meet such specifications is not. For example, when the University of Santa Cruz sent out a bid requesting servers that provided two AMD Athlon processors in each 1U rack piece, they were told by many vendors that it couldn't be done. In fact, only one company submitted a bid that met that specification---Racksaver. “If our experience at Santa Cruz tells us anything about this market, and I think it does, it strongly suggests that we may be the only company offering two AMD Athlon processors in 1U of space,” said Driggers.
Another of Racksaver’s recent projects was a supercomputer at the University of Delaware. This supercomputer, dubbed Samson, is Racksaver’s most powerful to date. The University’s Bartol Research Institute predicts Samson, a 132-node cluster, to rank in the top 200 supercomputers in terms of its computational power. “The University of Delaware tells us they’ve been very pleased with Samson’s performance so far,” said Driggers.
The larger significance of Linux clusters supercomputers is that they drive down the cost of scientific computing. "Instead of one supercomputer for the entire university, individual departments are able to purchase their own Beowulf cluster for a fraction of the cost," said Driggers. "It's allowing supercomputer research to happen on an entirely new level---where the actual project is occurring. "
This trend toward more affordable scientific computing represents an opportunity for both Racksaver and AMD. "As far as Racksaver goes, we're anticipating an increase in server sales of 300% compared to last year," said Driggers.
Driggers believes the innovative processor technology developed by AMD gives it a strong advantage in a growing market. "The AMD Athlon processors offer a superior math capability compared to their competitors. The floating point performance really sets it apart," said Driggers. "In our experience," he added, "the scientific community is starting to request AMD Athlon processors as the preferred CPU."
Like Racksaver, AMD is expanding its involvement in the rapidly growing world of Linux Beowulf clusters. Through its partnerships with innovators such as Racksaver, AMD Athlon processors are now powering supercomputers on four continents---Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.
As for building high-density supercomputers for South America, Africa and Antarctica, AMD and Racksaver maintain it's only a matter of time.
AMD, the AMD logo, AMD Athlon and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other product names used are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective companies.
Company Profile
Racksaver, a privately held corporation based in San Diego California, was founded in 1991. Racksaver builds Beowulf clusters and industrial rackmount servers.
Quotes
Testimonial supplied April 2001 by David Driggers, President of Racksaver.
1. “We feel we are offering higher density servers than anyone else. And we’ve been very successful selling clusters built with AMD Athlon™ processors.”
2. “If our experience at Santa Cruz tells us anything about this market, and I think it does, it strongly suggests that we are the only company offering 2 AMD Athlon™ processors in 1 U of space.”
3. “The University of Delaware tells us they’ve been very pleased with Samson’s performance so far.”
4. "Instead of one supercomputer for the entire university, individual department are able to purchase their own Beowulf cluster for a fraction of the cost. It's allowing supercomputer research to happen on an entirely new level---where the actual project is occurring. "
5. "As far as Racksaver goes, we're anticipating a growth rate this next year of 300%."
6. "The AMD Athlon™ processors offer a superior math capability compared to their competitors. The floating point performance really sets it apart."
7. "In our experience, the scientific community is starting to request AMD Athlon™ processors as the preferred CPU."
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