The Server Room Blog : Authors : gwagnon

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Education at Super Computing 2009

Posted by gwagnon Nov 19, 2009

I have to admit, I have never had the opportunity to be involved in HPC, Super Computing, or the communities that have evolved around such things. My first real experience with it was yesterday at SC09 in Portland, Oregon. A conference like any other was my thinking. But, when I started walking around the exhibition area (booths), I was amazed at the number of Universities and education based solutions that were represented.

Here is a quick montage of images that I put together of the educational facilities I saw and took a picture of...

I am sure there are many, many more, but I only captured the few that are represented here.

The one on the bottom left is not really an educational institution, but rather a company that I stopped and talked with for a few minutes. They essentially offer up their datacenter and supercomputer infrastructure for all the education facilities in the state of Alabama... K-12 and Universities too.

Here is another picture I took of a scout troop that was visiting the event. What a great opportunity for them to see and hear all about the most powerful computers in the world.

Here they are again listening (attentively) to a speaker from NASA talkiing about the expansion of the universe and how we study it.

Education is and should remain a priority for all of us. This is hopefully a good reminder of that. It certainly was for me.

-Greg

0 Comments Permalink Tags: sc09, data_center, supercomputing, intel_involved, datacenter

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And the winner of the Intel Xeon Workstation Sweepstakes is...

Posted by gwagnon Oct 20, 2009

Congratulations to Ron as the winner of the Intel Xeon Workstation Sweepstakes. He has been a member of The Server Room for over a year and was able to complete the quiz on the first attempt.

Good job!

"I was excited to hear that I won the Intel Xeon workstation sweepstakes. With its incredible performance, the system offers me the flexibility to use it in so many ways that I'm not sure how to best utilize it at the moment. It's a welcome problem to have and I look forward exploring the possibilities. Thanks to Intel and the Server Room team for providing a great resource to everyone!"

Thank you all for entering and look for more sweepstakes offerings in the near future.

- Your 'The Server Room' Admin's

0 Comments Permalink Tags: nehalem, 5500, workstation, 45nm, xeon_5500, performance, xeon

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Networking Equipment Webinar: Intel and Sun discuss Xeon 5500 blade servers

Posted by gwagnon Sep 2, 2009

Intel's RK Hiremane & Sun's David Caplan discuss Xeon 5500 blade servers virtualization ROI

Join experts from Intel, Sun Microsystems, and Ziff Davis Enterprise on August 20 for an informative eSeminar, where you will learn:

• How Sun’s Network Express Module technology works
• How easy it is to achieve high availability and near-instant failover
• How to reduce network cabling by a factor of 10:1
• How to simplify network and storage management.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: sun, nehalem, server, servers, xeon, intel, roi, virtualization, blade, xeon_5500, efficiency

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Intel Editor's Day - Latin America - Brazil

Posted by gwagnon Sep 9, 2008

I am currently sitting in PDX (Portland, Oregon) waiting for my flight to Dallas, then on to Sao Paulo, Brazil, then on to Porto Seguro, Brazil.

This is where our PR team is running an event called Intel Editor's Day (IED). This is the 3rd such event this year and I have had the pleasure of presenting Server Benchmarking at each event. The first in Mexico, the second in Costa Rica a few weeks ago. IED offers regional journalists a chance to get product information and demonstrations from Intel so they can be ready to report what they see, review, and evaluate when looking at these products in the market.

It's a team effort with these events. I am 'the server guy', yet I am carrying a few MID's and even an Atom demo card for my brethren (and sisteren?). I even have a wafer with me... something of the 45nm type. ;o)

The reason I am going is to talk with the 30+ journalists about distinguishing between client and server benchmarks. If you (the reader) don't know that there is a difference, there definitely is and you should let me know so we can offer some information for you to read about it.

My goal at IED is show a few benchmarks, talk about a few more (SPEC, TPC, etc.), and ultimately learn about how they might run these benchmarks. Education is the goal, but it goes both ways.

I'll add more when I get a chance... I have to grab a bite before getting on the plane.

1 Comments Permalink Tags: servers, intel, 45nm, benchmark, performance_tuning, server, dunnington, virtualization, performance, xeon

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Industry Event: Interop - for virtualization training??

Posted by gwagnon Apr 25, 2008

Yes, Interop has Virtualization training. It seems to be everywhere these days. The question is, how much quality is in the quantity?

Well, I am going to find out.

I am scheduled to attend Interop next week (April 28 - May 2) and am signed up for over a dozen classes/sessions that have to do with Virtualization. Here is a sampling;

- The ABC's of Virtualization: A shortcut Guide to Virtual Technology

- Virtualization and Security

- Virtualization beyond Consolidation; Driving down OPEX, Not just CAPEX

- Virtualization's Phantom Menace: Security

- Planning the move from physical to virtual: Migration and Deployment

- Storage Virtualization: What, Why, Where and How?

- Virtualized Data Centers - Beyond the Virtual Sum of Virtual Parts

- Microsoft's New Virtualization Strategy

- One for all and all for Xen

Here is the official Virtualization Track site for the event.

I'll post updates along the way... keep your browser running so you don't have to warm it up again.

;o)

7 Comments Permalink Tags: interop, wagnon, virtualization, data_center, datacenter

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Computer of the future

Posted by gwagnon Dec 12, 2007

I ran across this from Snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com/photos/technology/year1999.asp) and found it poignant.

Project out another 40 years… What is a 'server' or 'workstation' and how does it fit in the world of IT in the 2050's?

1 Comments Permalink Tags: server, workstation, gwagnon