Intel Updates Scalable System Framework

Intel has released several advancements to its Scalable System Framework (Intel SSF) to bring high-performance computing capabilities to more industries and new workloads. As a new element of the SSF, the company has introduced the Intel Omni-Path Architecture, an HPC-optimized fabric technology that increases accessibility to clusters.

The company will provide SSF reference architectures, helping run the divergent workloads that stress different parts of the system—compute, memory, I/O.

The Intel OPA’s 48-port switch enables 26% more servers than InfiniBand EDR and is currently being used at several large sites.

Intel has also started preproduction for Intel Xeon Phi processors (code-named Knights Landing) in several supercomputing-class systems.

In addition to announcing its hardware developments, Intel is among more than 30 founding members of the OpenHPC Collaborative Project, an organization focusing on developing an open-source HPC system.

“We’re entering a new era in which supercomputing is being transformed from a tool for a specific problem to a general tool for many,” said Charlie Wuischpard, vice president and general manager of HPC Platform Group at Intel. “System-level innovations in processing, memory, software and fabric technologies are enabling system capabilities to be designed and optimized for different usages, from traditional HPC to the emerging world of big data analytics and everything in between. We believe the Intel Scalable System Framework is the path forward for designing and delivering the next generation of systems for the ‘HPC everywhere’ era.”

For more information, visit Intel.

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