H P C w i r e The Text-on-Demand E-zine for High Performance Computing *** August 8, 1997: Vol. 6, No. 31 *** This Week's Table of Contents Represents 341 Pages of Text ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Article retrieval instructions at end of this file more@hpcwire.tgc.com For subscription information, email sub@hpcwire.tgc.com For a free 4-week trial subscription, e-mail trial@hpcwire.tgc.com -------------------- * -------------------- [ ] 70370) Cray and PGI Release HPF_CRAFT for CRAY T3E with PGHPF 2.3; New NAS Benchmark results show PGHPF outperforming hand-coded MPI in some cases. ______________________________ IN THIS ISSUE _______________________________ | * SPECIAL SIGGRAPH '97 FEATURES AND NEWS * | | Norris Smith is ill this week; his SIGGRAPH features will appear Aug 15 | | | | [ ] 11690) SCIENCE NEWS: VIRTUAL SUPERCOMPUTING CENTER ESTABLISHED | | [ ] 11695) COMMERCIAL NEWS: UNIX GROWING AT HIGH-END, NT AT LOW-END | | [ ] 11700) NEWS BRIEFS: NASA TO USE MUSE TECH'S CONTINUUM | |____________________________________________________________________________| [ ] 70371) NEC's SX-4 system and MAXSTRAT's Gen5 together dramatically increase seismic data accuracy and reduce processing lead time. FEATURES ===================================================================== [ ] 11686 ) URBAN SIMULATION FROM THE CONCRETE JUNGLE.....................4.2K by Steve Fisher, associate editor With its MetroSim urban simulation software and others Coryphaeus Software can not only simulate the real world with virtual-reality technology, but join the two. [ ] 11687 ) SUN'S ULTRA 30 WORKSTATIONS TARGET NEXT-GEN GRAPHICS............5K by Steve Fisher, associate editor Sun Microsystem's Ultra 30 workstations are in the limelight at SIGGRAPH and boast a reported fifty percent increase in performance over previous models. [ ] 11688 ) ADVANCED RENDERING'S 3D CHIP TO SERVE ANIMATION INDUSTRY......3.7K by Steve Fisher, associate editor The UK's Advanced Rendering Technology, Ltd., has announced a new class of 3D graphics processor and rendering servers that reportedly offer a 15 to 1 performance advantage over conventional processors. [ ] 11689 ) IMPACTDATA'S DSNA: AN INTERVIEW WITH BOB FARKALY..............5.8K by Steve Fisher, associate editor ImpactData's Storage Node achieves true data sharing, cross platform functionality and multi-Terabyte storage capabilities using a Distributed Storage Node Architecture (DSNA) and the Network Peripheral Adapter. SCIENCE & ENGINEERING NEWS [ ] 11690 ) U OF UTAH, SGI ESTABLISH VISUAL SUPERCOMPUTING CENTER...........4K Silicon Graphics, Inc and the University of Utah have announced the formation of the University of Utah Visual Supercomputing Center, dedicated to the development of visual supercomputing applications. [ ] 11691 ) DARPA FUNDS SDSC EVALUATION OF TERA'S MTA.....................7.4K The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has received a $1.9 million, award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to implement, optimize, and evaluate defense-related applications on the highly touted and long awaited Tera MTA. [ ] 11692 ) TEXAS MICRO PREVIEWS NT SERVER RECOVERY PROTOTYPE.............5.4K Texas Micro has developed a fault tolerant technology reported to provide full application recovery on Windows NT-based Intel servers within less than a second of system failure. [ ] 11693 ) CRAY HAS SHIPPED 8 SYSTEMS OF 512 OR MORE PROCESSORS5...........6K Cray Research has claimed in a press release that its success with the CRAY T3E line of scalable supercomputers proves the market is turning to parallel solutions that can scale to several hundred processors to achieve the highest performance levels. [ ] 11694 ) TSSI ANNOUNCES BACKING OF IEEE P1450 TEST LANGUAGE............3.8K Supplier of design-to-test bridge products TSSI will migrate its TDS line to the upcoming IEEE P1450 Standard Test Interface Language (STIL). STIL describes waveforms, timing specifications, patterns and serial-scan and was developed to solve the semiconductor industry's "gigabyte problem". COMMERCIAL NEWS [ ] 11695 ) ABERDEEN GROUP NOTES UNIX GROWTH AT HIGH END, NT AT LOW.......4.1K Although Boston's Aberdeen Group expects Windows NT to trounce UNIX on the low end, they predict a steep increase in high-end Unix server growth over the next few years. [ ] 11696 ) MULTI-CPU SERVERS: THE FUTURE FOR IT PROFESSIONALS?...........3.4K A recent edition of PC Week hypothesized that Multi-CPU servers may be the wave of the future for IT professionals. They provide better performance than today's four CPU Intel servers, better support for distributed applications and an alternative to a number of smaller servers. [ ] 11697 ) IDC PREDICTS ACCELERATION IN ANALYTIC APPLICATIONS MKT........3.7K Research by International Data Corporation suggests that analytic applications, a segment of the applications market that has not received sufficient attention to date, are about to make a dramatic impact on the overall market. [ ] 11698 ) NEURAL COMPUTER IN TRIAL BY UK FINANCIAL COMPANY................5K The UK's Lloyds Bowmaker Motor Finance, is currently using a neural computer called Decider for credit scoring new loan applicants. [ ] 11699 ) STRATEGIC NETWORKS COMPLETES ETHERNET-TO-ATM SWITCH EVALUATION5.8K Strategic Networks has completed phase II of its Ethernet-to-ATM Switch Evaluation. The report is based on benchmark testing and detailed analysis of results for four switch products submitted to this year's Ethernet-to-ATM evaluation. QUOTE OF THE WEEK ============================================================ [ ] 11686 ) "(T)wo things that made me interested in coming to this company were that the technology was at the pinnacle of 3D/3D animation, and that those capabilities need to be mainstreamed." -- Chris Groves, president & CEO, Coryphaeus __________________________INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHTS_________________________ [ ] 70372) TERA COMPUTER COMPANY is a high-performance computer company with a new architectural approach. "Positions Available" [ ] 70373) VISUAL NUMERICS IMSL Distributed Network Fortran Library Provides High Performance Mathematics for Distributed Systems [ ] 70374) Qualcomm Announces Worldwide Availability Of Eudora Worldmail Server [ ] 70375) A joint Mass Storage Conference; 6th NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr Conference & the 15th IEEE Symposium on Mass Storage [ ] 70376) SC97: High Performance Networking and Computing Talks to Feature John L. Hennessy, Ken Kennedy, David Farber, Pat Hanrahan NEWS BRIEFS ================================================================== [ ] 11700 ) NASA to Use MUSE Tech's Continuum for Design/Simulation.......2.8K [ ] 11701 ) SGI, Others Roll Out Offerings for Siggraph...................2.1K [ ] 11702 ) EC's HIPPI Featured In Discreet Logic SIGGRAPH Display........2.5K [ ] 11703 ) MS Releases VRML Authoring Tools at SIGGRAPH..................2.9K [ ] 11704 ) Adaptive Media Premiers 3D Streaming Solution at SIGGRAPH.....2.3K [ ] 11705 ) ViewPort 3D Immersive Display Debuts at SIGGRAPH..............2.7K [ ] 11706 ) MetaCreations Showcases Real Time Geometry at SIGGRAPH........3.2K [ ] 11707 ) Intel Demos Digital Content Creation at SIGGRAPH..............3.2K [ ] 11708 ) Domenici Dedicates New Office for Los Alamos Spinoff..........3.3K [ ] 11709 ) Compaq Adds Fibre Channel to High-End Pentium Servers.........2.1K [ ] 11710 ) Air Force Lab Orders RACE System from Mercury.................2.5K [ ] 11711 ) PVM 3.4 Moves Toward Heterogeneous Network Computing..........2.5K [ ] 11712 ) Seymour Cray HPC Industry Recognition Award Due in Nov........2.7K [ ] 11713 ) Sun Microsystems Posts SPECweb96 Benchmark....................1.8K [ ] 11714 ) Unisys Posts TPC-C Benchmark..................................2.6K [ ] 11715 ) Tandem Japan to Focus on Himalaya Mainframes..................1.2K [ ] 11716 ) Ancor Announces Japanese Orders, Inks Pact With Hucom.........2.5K [ ] 11717 ) UK's Churchill Insurance Using Oracle8........................2.5K [ ] 11718 ) D-Link Licenses Technically Elite's MeterWorks................2.4K [ ] 11719 ) ECS Installs WAN for British Construction Company.............2.2K [ ] 11720 ) Microsoft Buying $150 Million Stake in Apple..................1.7K SHORT TAKES [ ] 11721 ) Product Watch: NEC Launches Cenju-4 Parallel Computer........48.2K Motorola Offers SMP Entrprs Server Systems. SGI Delivers 3D API for NT. [ ] 11722 ) Financial Update: Ancor Posts 2nd Qtr Results................12.3K Auspex Reports on 4th Qtr & Yr End. ROSS Notes Q1 98 Results. [ ] 11723 ) Corporate Liaisons: Sun, NCR Cut Solaris/Worldmark Deal......20.6K Data General Picks VMARK for NT Datamarts. Gentia, Informix Integrate SW Solutions. [ ] 11724 ) People and Positions: Zitel Notes Mngmnt Changes..............7.1K Ancor Names Hendrickson CEO. Cadence Appts Ahuja VP, Engineering. JOB BANK ===================================================================== [ ] 667 ) Employment Opportunities From: Lawrence Berkeley, Tera, MIT, Raytheon E-Systems, Pallas Hewlett Packard, University of Michigan, IBM Corp, MRJ Technology Solutions..............................................5K [ ] 604 ) Job Bank Rates and Regulations.................................1.22K CONFERENCES ================================================================== [ ] 2888 ) Calendar of Upcoming HPC Events (Updated 08.07.97).............7.5K HPCwire INFORMATION ========================================================== [ ] 670 ) Masthead........................................................2.2K [ ] 601 ) Subscriptions & Removals........................................2.6K [ ] 602 ) Submitting Letters & Articles...................................1.6K [ ] 950 ) Index of Back Issues.............................................11K Comments regarding editorial content may be sent to: editor@hpcwire.tgc.com ______________________H P C w i r e S P O N S O R S_____________________ | Full background information on all Sponsoring Companies | | [ ] 936) Sony [ ] 905) MAXSTRAT | | [ ] 934) HP/Convex Tech. Center [ ] 930) HNSX Supercomputers | | [ ] 909) Fujitsu [ ] 902) IBM Corp. | | [ ] 937) Digital Equipment [ ] 932) Portland Group | | [ ] 938) Visual Numerics* [ ] 940) Eudora | | [ ] 941) HAL Computers [ ] 942) Sun Microsystems | | [ ] 921) Silicon Graphics/Cray Research [ ] 943) Northrop Grumman | | [ ] 944) Raytheon E-Systems | |__________________________________________________________________________| Firms marked with an * have updated their info within the last month. -------------------- * -------------------- This year, HPCwire proudly celebrates its fifth consecutive year of service to the scientific, academic, and industrial communities: 1992-1997. To date HPCwire has delivered 1,785,275 articles and product announcements to HPC professionals worldwide. *** LAST ISSUE'S MOST REQUESTED ITEMS *** [ ] 11652) COMP RESELLER NEWS SAYS SGI MAY CONSIDER NT PLATFORM..........2.2K [ ] 70363) TERA COMPUTER COMPANY...........................................5K [ ] 11649) DEC DEVELOPING NEW CLUSTERING ARCHITECTURE......................5K [ ] 11648) DOE, NAT LABS SELECT 5 UNIVS FOR LARGE-SCALE SIMULATION.......7.9K [ ] 11725) TOP 20 MOST REQUESTED ARTICLES FROM LAST WEEK'S HPCwire.......1.8K ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~