AMD Opteron 6200 vs Opteron 6100 Value

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Colin Cronin

The AMD Opteron 6200 Outperforms the 6100

The AMD Opteron 6000 series continues marching forward with each new innovation building upon the capabilities and possibilities of the past. With the latest AMD Opteron 6200 processors now on the shelves, there is great hidden value to uncover. The highlight and the hype of the Opteron 6200 series has been mostly centered around the 16-core Interlagos, but there are some significant advantages in the 12-core options.

At core parity, the 6200 series outperforms the 6100 with superior clock, cache, and energy efficiency at only a fraction of the price.

Let me illustrate.

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ICC Releases New Systems Powered by AMD’s New Processors

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Colin Cronin

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We were certainly thankful to have a couple days of relaxation. November has been a big month for us. Earlier in the month we released our GPU supercomputing solutions. Now we have a new set of superserver systems powered by the recently-released AMD Opteron™ 6200-series processors.

Just a couple weeks ago I wrote about new processors from both Intel and AMD. AMD’s 6200-series includes their much-awaited 16-core processor (code-named Interlagos) and utilizes their new Bulldozer architecture. One of the most desirable aspects of these new processors is that they have far superior performance compared to the previous 6100 line, but they remain compatible with the widely-used Socket G34 motherboards. This makes them quite flexible in application.

ICC has released a number of new systems with the AMD Opteron™ 6200 processors in various configurations to meet a wide range of needs. Four of our select systems provide a great snapshot of the different types of solutions we have developed.

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New GPU Solutions for Grid Computing and other Supercomputing Needs

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Colin Cronin

We’ve just launched two new GPU products, along with our new GPU supercomputing solutions section! GPU computing is the use of a graphics processing unit (GPU) in computing purposes, from general-purpose to supercomputing tasks. With a constantly increasing demand for greater computing performance across the board, supercomputing is more and more drawing upon a hybrid model which integrates the roles of GPUs and CPUs.

If you are looking to gain a performance boost in your cluster or grid computing, ICC’s GPU solutions may be the perfect fit. The scalability requirements involved especially in grid computing make GPU solutions an ideal IT asset.

At ICC, we integrate our top technology with NVIDIA’s® CUDA™ GPU architecture, the simplest way for you to purchase, utilize, and manage a GPU-based cluster. GPU supercomputing has never been easier than with ICC NovaServ™ solutions, providing optimal value by minimizing time spent dealing with the technology and allowing you to focus on what you do best.

Grid Computing and other GPU Supercomputing Solutions from ICC

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Server Wars: AMD New 16-Core Processors, Intel Sandy Bridge-E

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Colin Cronin

This is a big day for the server wars. AMD finally released its new 16-core processors: code-named “Interlagos” and “Valencia.” On the same day, Intel rolled out its new Sandy Bridge-E processors and there is already lots of speculation over whether or not their extra power is worth the price.

But today the spotlight is on AMD. Its 16-core Opteron™ line is a much-anticipated release. Since as early as 2009, we have been hearing about AMD’s plans for 16-core processors. Interlagos is officially known as the Opteron™ 6200, a 12- or 16-core x86 processor that is compatible with Socket G34 motherboards (Magny-Cours & Opteron™ 6100.) Not only does the absolute number of cores enable far superior performance compared to the current Opteron™ 6100 series, but Interlagos is one of the products taking advantage of AMD’s new Bulldozer CPU.

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Upgraded RAID Calculator

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Colin Cronin

Just a quick announcement:

Our RAID Calculator page is a very popular and highly-utilized resource, receiving thousands of hits per day. Because of this, we added some more functionality into its application. One of the biggest changes you will notice is that the tool now dynamically generates appropriate solutions on the right when you fill out the calculator fields.

There will be more changes coming to this and other parts of the site in the near future. For now, enjoy the upgraded RAID Calculator

New Green Server Competitor Emerging?

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Colin Cronin

There has been a decent amount of chatter on all the media channels over some of Facebook’s efforts to move forward with innovative technology. The other day I wrote about its new “green” European data center based in Sweden. In addition, at the recent Open Compute Project Summit, Facebook announced its intention to contribute to greater standardization at the system level for data center server and hardware equipment. For some, minimizing heat and energy consumption is as high a priority as performance.

A potential competitor to Facebook is emerging in HP, who is launching a new effort Project Moonshot. HP intends to utilize this program to develop:

…a new server development platform, “customer discovery lab” and partner ecosystem brought together with the purpose of reducing the complexity and energy consumption of environments that have thousands of servers along with all the network, storage, power, cooling and management technologies needed to support them.

But Facebook as a player in the world of enterprise IT is a newbie. Data centers are not their primary focus. So while HP may butt heads with them, their real game appears to be Intel.

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MicroCloud Solution for High-Density Deployments

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Colin Cronin

ICC MicroCloud Server Our MicroCloud high-density server went into mass-production last month and has been a popular sought-after item. This is an advanced machine that has been designed for companies offering cloud services, but it’s worth keeping your deployment requirements in mind before purchasing.

The features of the ICC MicroCloud High-Density Server (5037MC-H8TRF) include:

Eight modular nodes in a 3U chassis that essentially make this 8 separate server systems in one box.
Single Intel Xeon E3-1200 processor per node featuring Intel’s new Sandy Bridge architecture.
Redundant Platinum Level (94%) highest-efficiency power supplies
Up to 32GB DDR3 ECC UDIMM memory, 2x 3.5″ SATA3 drives, 1x PCI-E 2.0 slot, and IPMI on each node. Continue reading →

The Impact of Thailand and Hard-Drive Shortages

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Colin Cronin

Everyone in our industry seems to be keeping at least one eye on the impact of the massive flooding in Thailand and the hard-drive shortages resulting from it. If you haven’t been, here is a quick summary:

Thailand is experiencing record flooding – the worst in 50 years.
Manufacturers are struggling to continue work in the face of suspended plants and suppliers.
Western Digital and Toshiba have shut down their hard-drive production facilities in Pathum Thani province, near Bangkok.
Nidec, a leading supplier of components (including roughly 70-80% of hard-drive motors used by major manufacturers) has been substantially and adversely affected.
Thailand is a top producer of hard-drives (second only to China) – these events are driving up absolute prices for hard-drives, anywhere from a 50-200% increase (varying depending on the brand and where you are in the chain of purchasing the equipment.)

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Switching to the cloud? Advantages and disadvantages

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Alex Leites

With tougher economic times, companies are reducing IT budgets but are still finding the need to replace legacy systems. Because of this, claims a Gartner report released earlier this year, many CIOs have turned to cloud computing as a way to save on IT costs.

Cloud computing, for all of its recent publicity, is not new. In the decades before PCs, companies purchased computing resources on mini-mainframes that were accessed through end-user terminals. Cloud computing’s recent re-emergence is a result of companies again considering the cost savings of having someone outside the company handle IT infrastructure and maintenance.

But the companies that have arguably the most to gain from cloud computing, small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), are still unconvinced. According to a recent Newtek survey, 48% of small businesses owners do not see a switch to the cloud as a cost-reducing move. Continue reading →