PC blades to link up into grids

Blade PC pioneer ClearCube is working with partner DataSynapse to put idle blades to work

ClearCube Technology will today unveil a partnership with DataSynapse to build grid computing systems, so firms with ClearCube’s PC blade systems can use spare compute capacity for demanding tasks such as financial analysis.

The ClearCube architecture has proved popular with financial services companies because it keeps the system unit securely away from trading floors. Users can also switch speedily to a spare system in the event of hardware failure. With DataSynapse’s Grid- Server software, the same blades can be used to build a high-performance compute farm, according to ClearCube.

“Businesses have been looking at their IT systems and asking, ‘How do I take these assets and leverage them to the maximum limits?’” said ClearCube senior technologist Ken Knotts. In a grid, complex tasks are broken down into smaller steps and distributed among many compute nodes to speed processing.

With DataSynapse, grids can be set up to use the spare processor resources when PC blades are idling or are being used for less demanding tasks, said Knotts. Outside of working hours, a company’s entire blade infrastructure could be reconfigured as a grid.

In the UK, ClearCube customers are mostly finance firms looking to do risk analysis, but many US companies are already using grids for tasks such as medical research.

The two vendors will promote GridServer on ClearCube blades for grids, but will not support each other’s products, Knotts said.