The next BWBUG ( The users group involving Open Source for HPC and systems in the enterprise ) Will meet October 12, 2004 at Northrop Grumman Corporation at 7575 Colshire Drive McLean Virginia 22102 at 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

There are not costs and the parking is free.

There will be two presentations, One, on Global Files Systems the key component to large reliable data storage systems. The second talk will on a comprehensive study that will provide a unique insight into the Linux HPC market from the users perceptive.

Join us for two great talks this Tuesday.

Speaker: Sudhir Srinivasan, Ph.D., CTO and VP Engineering for IBRIX a leader in Global File Systems

Description: As the market coalesces around cluster-based computing, one of the primary impediments to scalability and performance is the file system. As such, technology vendors have developed distributed parallel file systems to overcome these I/O challenges. This session will offer a brief overview of how today's parallel file system offerings take advantage of clustered environments to get the best performance and scalability possible. Further, it will endeavor to explain how design and architectural elements such as segmentation, metadata algorithms, and non-hierarchical architectures make large clustered file systems more scalable and practical. We believe attendees will come away with a better understanding of the elements that make file systems solutions appropriate given the cluster environment and applications users are running.

John L Payne is president of JLP Associates, a consulting company specializing in computer and communication technologies.

HPC Clusters - The best technology buy!

The first independent study of HPC clusters and HPC industry growth. Based on comprehensive interviews with more than 40 users. The talk will provide insights into users operational experience, reliability and performance. It will also look at their views on COTS versus Blades. Future design options and requirements will be discussed.