SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sun Microsystems Inc. today announced that UCLA’s Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI) selected Sun to create an affordable high performance computing (HPC) grid to help improve the study of the brain. Based on the Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS), Sun N1 Grid Engine, 306 Sun Fire(TM) x64 (x86, 64-bit) servers and Sun StorEdge(TM) L8500, the grid will run complex and data-intensive algorithms to assist LONI in researching causes, cures and treatments for ailments such as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia, and analyzing brain development.
LONI is creating a “brain database” that will provide appropriate statistical power and visualization capabilities to examine an individual or group of people to better understand the brain’s structure, deformations and atrophy. The system will support hundreds of scientists worldwide as they combine information from more than 10,000 images, leveraging LONI’s series of algorithms and mathematical computations to study brain development, Alzheimer’s disease, drug treatments for conditions such as schizophrenia, and the effect of AIDS on the brain. Prior to the implementation of the grid, these computations were extremely complex, expensive and time-intensive.
“The new technology is really kind of a wonderful way to leapfrog what had been a very serious impediment to asking fundamental questions about the brain. Prior to the grid, people were unable to move forward on specific research because they did not know how to do it or because the data would take weeks to process,” said Dr. Arthur W. Toga, Laboratory Director, LONI. “Our powerful grid, based on the Solaris 10 OS, AMD Opteron processor-based Sun Fire x64 servers and Sun StorEdge L8500, is web-interfaced so our neuroscientists who aren’t mathematical by nature can easily gain access to the information. And the price/performance is outstanding -- at a budget-friendly price point the speed allows us to more quickly analyze data and realize conclusions in hours rather than weeks.”
LONI chose Sun technologies and services after an extensive evaluation process. In addition to beating competitors on price and performance, Sun’s reputation, commercial stability and HPC engineering expertise also served as critical decision-making factors for LONI. “Companies are coming to Sun for our technologies and services because of our demonstrated expertise in the HPC market. Sun is increasing the reach and impact of HPC by making it readily available to more customers as a key tool for solving real world problems,” said Bjorn Andersson, director of HPC and Grid Computing, Network Systems Group, Sun Microsystems. “Our innovations place us in a unique position to build the world’s most powerful computers without breaking our customers’ IT budgets.”
For more information about LONI, visit http://www.loni.ucla.edu/index.shtml .
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
A singular vision -- “The Network Is The Computer"(TM) -- guides Sun in the development of technologies that power the world’s most important markets. Sun’s philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at sun.com.
NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Sun Fire, Solaris and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. AMD, Opteron, the AMD logo, the AMD Opteron logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices.
Mark Richardson Sun Microsystems, Inc. 650-257-4038 mark.richardson@sun.com
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
CONTACT: Mark Richardson of Sun Microsystems, Inc., +1-650-257-4038, ormark.richardson@sun.com
