OT: Apple's new Workgroup Clusters are a perfect fit
Posted by Kenneth Farmer, Thursday September 29 2005 @ 09:21AM EDT
InfoWorld: Apple just rolled out new Apple Workgroup Cluster configurations, which are literally plug-and-go computational clusters. The announcement might have slipped past you because it is being pitched primarily (or at least it was to me) as the Workgroup Cluster for (Bio)informatics, a market segment so rarified that just writing about it gives me a nosebleed. The reality is that Apple Workgroup Clusters have appeal well beyond Apple's vertical science/technology market. It's the first personal cluster, and for me, that's a vision from years ago made very real and very practical.
I had the entry-level Apple Workgroup Cluster configuration in hand before I saw the price. I figured the low-end bundle would cost $30K, but the entry-level (which term I use loosely; see below) Apple Workgroup Cluster costs $22,999 for commercial buyers or $19,999 for buyers in academic institutions. Read the bill of materials and you'll see why I was surprised to have missed the mark by $7K:
IDC: Appro Xtreme-X Supercomputer Blade Solution
Analysis of the Xtreme-X architecture and management system while assessing challenges and opportunities in the technical computing market for blade servers. Video - The Road to PetaFlop Computing
Explore the Scalable Unit concept where multiple clusters of various sizes can be rapidly built and deployed into production. This new architectural approach yields many subtle benefits to dramatically lower total cost of ownership.
SpyderByte.com
SpyderByte.com
