Tesla-Based Server Breaks 1U Performance Record

Computex is just now kicking off in earnest over in Taiwan, and already NVIDIA is pushing out some rather significant server news. From the show floor in Taipei, the GPU maker is announcing the immediate availability of a new class of server that combines massively parallel Tesla GPUs with multi-core CPUs in a single 1U rack-mount server. According to the company, this setup delivers 12x the performance of a standard quad-core CPU-based 1U server.



Supermicro is deemed the first to market with this device, and it's on hand to demonstrate the Tesla-powered SuperServer 6016T-GF-TM2 at the Nangang Upper Exhibition Hall. Don Clegg, Vice President of Marketing at Supermicro, was rather pleased with the introduction: "Our new Tesla GPU-based SuperServer 6016T-GF Series delivers a much higher performance-per-watt and per-rack than any other 1U solution in the market today. This 2-Teraflop SuperServer meets the most demanding enterprise data center requirements for reliability and manageability."



Not surprisingly, details on pricing were not mentioned, but given that these are being primarily marketed towards enterprise-class customers, we don't imagine the MSRP being cheap. NVIDIA's full release is pasted below.

NVIDIA AND SUPERMICRO SHATTER 1U SERVER PERFORMANCE RECORD
New GPU-based SuperServer Delivers 12X More Compute Power

COMPUTEX 2009—TAIPEI, TAIWAN—JUNE 1, 2009—NVIDIA Corporation and Supermicro today announced the immediate availability of a new class of server that combines massively parallel NVIDIA® Tesla™ GPUs with multi-core CPUs in a single 1U rack-mount server. This unique configuration delivers 12 times the performance of a traditional quad-core CPU-based 1U server.

Supermicro is first to market and is demonstrating the NVIDIA Tesla-based SuperServer 6016T-GF-TM2 at Computex 2009 in Taiwan this week (booth # N806, Nangang Upper Exhibition Hall).

“Our new Tesla GPU-based SuperServer 6016T-GF Series delivers a much higher performance-per-watt and per-rack than any other 1U solution in the market today,” stated Don Clegg, Vice President of Marketing, Supermicro. “This 2-Teraflop SuperServer meets the most demanding enterprise data center requirements for reliability and manageability.”

Based on the same award-winning NVIDIA CUDA™ architecture as other Tesla GPU-based solutions, these new servers offer unprecedented levels of integration and reliability for enterprise-class users. In addition, the GPU can be tied directly into the remote monitoring capabilities of the server for significantly improved system level management.

Petrobras, the leading Brazilian International Energy company, recently spoke about its reliance on Tesla GPUs to increase the performance of their seismic codes. Petrobras has recently invested in a GPU-based cluster consisting of 190 NVIDIA Tesla GPU Computing processors for scientific parallel processing, with transformative results:

"With our GPU cluster we are getting performance improvements of 5x to 20x over our traditional multi-core CPU-based cluster,” said Neiva Zago, Geophysical Technology Manager, Petrobras. “We expect that the continued use of GPUs in our business will result in significant reduction in processing time as well as savings in power consumption and datacenter floor space."

Petrobras expects scalable increases in GPU performance will continue as they build out their datacenter to deliver more than 400 TFLOPS.

For more information on Tesla GPU Computing solutions, please visit http://www.nvidia.com/object/preconfigured_clusters.html, and for more information on Supermicro’s product line, please visit:  www.supermicro.com/products/nfo/gpu.cfm.

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) is the world leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the GPU, a high-performance processor which generates breathtaking, interactive graphics on workstations, personal computers, game consoles, and mobile devices. NVIDIA serves the entertainment and consumer market with its GeForce graphics products, the professional design and visualization market with its Quadro graphics products, and the high-performance computing market with its Tesla™ computing solutions products. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. and has offices throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For more information, visit www.nvidia.com.

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the benefits, features, impact, and capabilities of NVIDIA Tesla GPUs and  NVIDIA CUDA architecture and their effects on the Supermicro SuperServer are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: development of more efficient or faster technology; adoption of the CPU for parallel processing; design, manufacturing or software defects; the impact of technological development and competition; changes in consumer preferences and demands; customer adoption of different standards or our competitor's products; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-Q for the fiscal period ended April 26, 2009. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on our website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.