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the role of SSDs inside Penguin's new IceBreaker
Editor:- November 15, 2010 - Penguin Computing recently launched a new family of fast 160TB DAS RAID storage systems which the company says provides the performance and scalability of 40Gbps InfiniBand environments.

Called IceBreaker - it's designed for high workflow apps like scientific modeling - which don't need the "frills" (and cost) associated with similar capacity SAN systems.

Editor's comments:- I asked the question - does solid state storage feature in any significant way in the new product architecture? If so - at what level and managed how?

Penguin Computing said - "IceBreaker uses Solid State storage for 3 different purposes:

1) - In all IceBreaker units local operating system and user data are on separate disks. For internal OS drive IceBreakers use small capacity solid state device. Motivation for this choice was ruggedness of the solid state devices - failed OS drive would be very disruptive and cumbersome to recover.

2) - In our scalable IceBreaker SX configuration SSDs are used in the Lustre Metadata Server (MDS) node to accelerate the Lustre metadata transactions. MDS node is an IceBreaker 2716 unit with 8 or 16 solid state devices and high performance RAID. High IOps rates of the enterprise SSDs are well suited for this role.

3) For transaction-oriented demanding workloads IceBreaker FX solution can be implemented with an IB 2716 building block populated with up to 16 high performance SSD devices. Depending on the workload requirements this storage subsystem can be connected to application servers or clients using a 10GigE or InfiniBand QDR attachment which closely matches the throughput potential of the SSD RAID array."
Editor again:- Penguins and icebreakers came together in a novel I wrote in 2001 called - Pirates and Goblins - from which the image on the right appears.

Penguin Computing was already featured in my article - Animal Brands and Metaphors in the Storage Market - in which I have demonstrated that mice are not the only animals in data storage.
Penguins watch the pirate ship in the ice field - image from a story on goblinsearch.com
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Penguin Computing

Penguin Computing is a global leader in high-performance computing (HPC), delivering complete, integrated HPC solutions, from the workstation to the cloud. With a focus on cutting-edge technology, ease-of-use and exceptional customer service, Penguin cost-effectively meets the needs of the world's most demanding HPC users, including Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy. Today, Penguin delivers a range of solutions, from massive Linux clusters to "Penguin on Demand" (POD), a new service that provides a complete HPC solution in the cloud. Penguin has been an innovator in HPC solutions for over a decade, and the company's founder Donald Becker is recognized as the "Father of Linux Clustering." For more information about Penguin Computing and Penguin products please go to www.penguincomputing.com.

click to learn more about Fusion-io's SSD products PCIe, Infiniband etc -  and company
  • editor's comments:- November 2010 - Penguin revealed how SSDs are used in their HPC RAID systems. See the news story on the left.


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