Designed without compromise for unlimited innovation
Bull’s Extreme Computing solutions are built using a large choice of bullx systems, based on latest generation Intel® Xeon® processors. Specifically designed with Extreme Computing in mind, they can serve all applications.
The bullx blade system was designed with the following principles in mind:
Optimization and simplification of the compute node for HPC use
Integration of several compute nodes and first-level interconnect
Flexible structure for communication and I/O networks, for the closest fit with customer requirements
The resulting bullx blade system leverages the latest technological advances such as:
New-generation Intel® Xeon® 5500 series processors (code-named Nehalem-EP ), with Intel® QPI technology
InfiniBand network connection through an integrated 36-ports QDR switch
Flexible storage: choice between local HDD , or local SSD , or diskless blades
Availability of GPU -accelerated blades
Thanks to these innovations, the bullx blade system delivers:
Improved performance (enhanced compute node efficiency, reduced latency, higher communication and I/O throughput)
Reduced cost of ownership (fewer components, better fit of communication network, reduced installation time, improved upgradeability, power efficiency)
Enhanced reliability (less cabling)
bullx blade chassis: high density, uncompromised performance and optimized power consumption
The bullx blade chassis can host up to 18 compute blades in 7U. It also contains the first-level interconnect, a management unit and all components necessary to power and cool the blades, interconnect and management unit. It is the ideal foundation to build a medium to large-scale HPC cluster, with bullx compute blades combined with R423 E2 service nodes.
The bullx blade chassis provides a peak performance of up to 1.69 Tflops and offers a fully non-blocking InfiniBand QDR interconnect.
An ultracapacitor (option) protects the chassis from power outages up to 250ms. In areas with good quality power supplies, the ultracapacitor means a UPS is not needed – saving up to 15% on power consumption.
The chassis is equipped with high-efficiency (+90%) power supply units, and power consumption is further optimized by the smart fan control in each chassis.
Compute nodes : ultra dense servers for cost-effective capacity computing
The bullx (formerly NovaScale) R422 E2 2-socket servers are designed for high-level performance:
high memory capacity, high-end connectivity, optimal internal storage capacity.
With 2 servers in 1U (i.e. up to 16 cores and 188 Gflops), the R422 E2 has the same density as blades, and the flexibility of 1U commodity servers.
And for the most demanding SMP applications and memory-hungry codes, the 4-socket NovaScale R480 E1 server is the right choice.
Enhanced nodes designed for cluster management and visualization
The bullx (formerly NovaScale) R423 E2 service node has advanced connectivity features, extended storage options and redundancy features to guarantee reliable cluster management services.
The bullx R425 E2 visualization node is equipped to support the latest graphics and accelerator cards.
