LSI storage system integrated with new Cray CX1000 supercomputer

HAMBURG, GERMANY: LSI Corp. announced that Cray Inc. has selected the LSI Engenio 2600 storage system for integration with the new Cray CX1000 supercomputer. The Engenio 2600 is an entry-level storage system designed to provide customers with midrange performance and advanced functionality without sacrificing simplicity or affordability.

The Cray CX1000 supercomputer is a dense, energy-efficient and powerful rack-mounted system designed for data-intensive, high-performance computing (HPC) environments. The Cray CX1000 system redefines HPC by delivering hybrid capabilities through a choice of chassis and other components that can be mixed-and-matched in a single rack, creating a customized hybrid computing platform to meet a variety of scientific workloads.

The flexibility of the Cray CX1000 supercomputer is complemented by the integration of the highly adaptable LSI Engenio 2600 storage system. The 2600 system is the newest member of the Engenio line of modular storage systems and the first to feature 6Gb/s SAS technology. The system combines multi-protocol host connectivity, flexible drive support, an intuitive management interface and advanced energy-saving features, delivering a fully featured storage system integrated with the Cray CX1000 supercomputer.

"The Cray CX1000 supercomputer is our first system based on Intel processors and an InfiniBand interconnect designed to fit between our Cray CX1 desktop line and our Cray XT family of supercomputers," said Ian Miller, senior vice president of the productivity solutions group and marketing at Cray.

"The Cray CX1000 system is tightly integrated with the LSI Engenio 2600 to allow customers to address both computational and storage requirements within a single system. The 2600 system is the perfect complement to the new Cray CX1000 supercomputer and our overall vision of adaptive supercomputing."

The Engenio 2600 system combines proven LSI controller technology with leading host interface connectivity to deliver a 4X improvement in throughput performance compared to the previous generation product. The system also delivers 2X IOPS (input/output operations per second) improvement in random disk reads compared to its predecessor.

The system's balanced and sustainable performance allows it to support a wide range of HPC workloads by being equally adept both at delivering throughput to bandwidth-intensive applications and IOPS to transaction-oriented applications.

"HPC professionals in the lower end of the market have the same need for maximum computational efficiency and continuous data access as those in the high end," said Steve Hochberg, senior director, HPC segment, LSI.

"However, system attributes such as storage density, power efficiency and ease of use often play a larger role in the purchase decisions of these customers. The Cray CX1000 supercomputer with integrated LSI storage technology delivers on these requirements while providing the flexibility to meet future project needs."

With over 100 petabytes deployed in HPC environments and more than 400,000 systems shipped across a wide range of workloads and market segments, LSI storage systems are helping to accelerate scientific research and innovation for many of the world's largest government and university-based research centers.

The LSI Engenio 2600 is available today through select OEM partners, including Cray.