Intel To Help HP Push HPC Into Newer Markets

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Intel will now be helping PC maker Hewlett-Packard to enter new markets. HP will make use of new processor and network technologies from the chip maker to develop server systems to push high-performance computing (HPC) into more markets such as helping large enterprises with Big Data.

Intel’s new processors for big workloads

With the partnership, both firms are hoping to extend HPC beyond traditional uses in oil and gas exploration, financial services and life sciences to new markets such as retail, police, etc.

Intel’s upcoming technologies will include a many-core Xeon Phi processor code-named Knights Landing, Intel’s Lustre software for high-performance storage and Omni-Path, a network fabric technology. All these technologies will help HP to expand its HPC configurations, including the ones it already offers to some of its clients, notes Bill Mannel, head of HP’s HPC & Big Data business.

Intel’s current technologies including standard Xeon server chips are unable to meet the volume data needs of HPC customers, notes Mannel, adding, “A lot of the standard technologies, including x86, are running out of gas relative to customers’ ability to process data more rapidly.” But Xeon Phi will be able to meet these  demands as the Knights Landing version will have 72 cores along with two vector processing units per core, the chip maker noted last week. This means for  applications that process large amounts of data, such as video transcoding and seismic processing, workloads can be spread to different cores, resulting in greater efficiency.

Intel chips not exclusive to HP

Intel’s technology is not exclusive to HP, so there is a good chances that going forward we will see similar offerings from Dell and Lenovo. Intel says that over 50 system builders are expected to use its upcoming technologies, and the first systems based on it will be available later this year. Intel will unveil its new processors this week in Frankfurt at the International Supercomputing Conference.

Intel’s Omni-Path will be commercially available by the fourth-quarter, while Knights Landing is expected to follow soon after. As of now, there is no information from HP on when the new servers will be avaialble, but there are expectations it will be launched in the first half next year.

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