New Version of Cray Linux Environment Released

By DE Editors

At the recent 2010 High Performance Computing (HPC) User Forum in Dearborn, MI, Cray Inc. announced the release of the latest version of its Cray Linux Environment—the production petascale operating system for the company’s line of Cray XT supercomputers. This third generation of the Cray Linux Environment includes the introduction of Cluster Compatibility Mode, allowing Cray XT supercomputers to run applications from independent software vendors (ISVs)  without modifications.

“Scalability is a key component of designing Cray supercomputers and this latest version of our Cray Linux Environment continues to be one of the most scalable Linux environments for high performance computing,” says Barry Bolding, Cray’s vice president of Scalable Systems. “The introduction of Cluster Compatibility Mode significantly enhances the compatibility features of our operating system. Now the most powerful supercomputers in the world can run our customers’ key ISV applications right out of the box.”

Shipping with the Cray XT6 and Cray XT6m systems, with availability planned for the Cray XT5 and Cray XT5m systems later this year,  the third generation of the Cray Linux Environment is an adaptive operating system. Cray Linux Environment scales to more than 500,000 cores, according to the company. It includes Cray’s NodeKARE diagnostic functionality to help ensure compute jobs are run on healthy nodes.

The introduction of the new Cluster Compatibility Mode provides users with a full-featured cluster environment. Cluster Compatibility Mode is a fully standard x86 Linux environment that allows out-of-the-box installation and running of parallel ISV applications without porting, re-linking, or recompilation, according to Cray. Cluster Compatibly Mode also allows for multiple MPI libraries.

“The introduction of the Cluster Compatibility Mode into the latest Cray Linux Environment furthers the company’s drive to expand its total addressable market, especially into the midrange of the supercomputer segment,”  says Earl Joseph, IDC program vice president for HPC. “The Cluster Compatibility Mode is targeted at leading HPC independent software vendors and is designed to ensure that their applications easily integrate with Cray’s line of XT supercomputing systems, allowing the company to reach a larger base of HPC users than was possible in the past. Cray’s strategy is to pair the strength of its performance-focused Cray XT systems with more easy-to-install ISV applications to form an attractive combination.”

For more information, visit Cray, Inc.

Sources:  Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.