Mont-Blanc project selects Cavium's ThunderX2™ processor for its new ARM-based HPC platform

Accelerates ARM architecture adoption in Exascale-class supercomputing

Les Clayes – Barcelona, 16 January, 2017 – The Mont-Blanc European project has selected Cavium's (NASDAQ:CAVM) ThunderX2 ARM server processor to power its new High Performance Computing (HPC) prototype. The ambition of the Mont-Blanc project is to define the architecture of an Exascale-class compute node based on the ARM architecture, and capable of being manufactured at industrial scale. The project takes a holistic approach, encompassing not just hardware, but also operating system and tools, and applications. The new platform will therefore be a key asset to all Mont-Blanc partners, to assess options for maximum compute efficiency, to further develop the software ecosystem for ARM HPC platforms, and to implement life-size tests.

The ThunderX2 product family is Cavium's 2nd generation 64-bit ARMv8-A server processor SoCs for High Performance Computing in the Data Center and cloud applications. With fully out of order high performance custom cores supporting single and dual socket configurations, ThunderX2 is optimized to drive highest computational performance delivering outstanding memory bandwidth and memory capacity. The ThunderX2 processor family is fully compliant with ARMv8-A architecture specifications as well as ARM's SBSA and SBBR standards and is widely supported by industry leading OS, Hypervisor and SW tool and application vendors.

The new Mont-Blanc prototype will be built by Atos, the coordinator of phase 3 of Mont-Blanc, using its Bull expertise and products. The platform will leverage the infrastructure of the Bull sequana pre-exascale supercomputer range for network, management, cooling, and power. Atos and Cavium signed an agreement to collaborate to develop this new platform, thus making Mont-Blanc an Alpha-site for ThunderX2.

"ThunderX2 is a server-class chip designed for high compute performance. With the adoption of this new generation of power- and performance-efficient processors, we are entering a new and exciting dimension of the Mont-Blanc project. This already gives us a glimpse of what a European exascale-class HPC platform could be in the near future." says Etienne Walter, coordinator of phase 3 of the Mont-Blanc project.

"As the race to Exascale intensifies, we are pleased to be the vendor of choice to partner with Atos to deliver Mont-Blanc platform" said Rishi Chugh, Director of Marketing, Data Center Processor Group at Cavium. "ThunderX2 builds on established architecture and ecosystem of ThunderX delivering performance competitive with next generation of incumbent processors".

About the Mont-Blanc project
The current third phase of the Mont-Blanc project continues to take a holistic approach, encompassing hardware, operating system and tools, and applications, with the following targets:

• Defining the architecture of an Exascale-class compute node based on the ARM architecture, and capable of being manufactured at industrial scale;
• Assessing the available options for maximum compute efficiency;
• Developing the matching software ecosystem to pave the way for market acceptance of ARM solutions.

The project is run by a European consortium that includes:

• Industrial hardware/software technology providers: Atos, using its expertise in supercomputing & Big data following the acquisition of Bull (coordinator - France); ARM, the world leader in embedded high-performance processors (United Kingdom); and AVL, the world's largest independent company for the development, simulation and testing technology of powertrains (Austria);
• Academic/research HPC centres: Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (Spain); Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (Switzerland); CNRS (CNRS/LIRMM - France); University of Stuttgart (HLRS -Germany); University of Cantabria (Spain); University of Graz (Austria); University of Versailles Saint Quentin (France).

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 671697.

More information on www.montblanc-project.eu | @MontBlanc_EU 

Press contact
Pascale Bernier-Bruna
Tel: (+33) 1 30 80 32 04
pascale.bernier-bruna@atos.net

About Cavium
Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), offers a broad portfolio of integrated, software compatible processors ranging in performance from 1Gbps to 100Gbps that enable secure, intelligent functionality in Enterprise, Data Center, Broadband/Consumer, Mobile and Service Provider Equipment, highly programmable switches which scale to 3.2Tbps and Ethernet and Fibre Channel adapters up to 100Gbps. Cavium processors are supported by ecosystem partners that provide operating systems, tools and application support, hardware reference designs and other products. Cavium is headquartered in San Jose, CA with design centers in California, Massachusetts, India, China and Taiwan. For more information, please visit: : http://www.cavium.com

Media Contact
Angel Atondo
Sr. Marketing Communications Manager
Telephone: +1 408-943-7417
Email: angel.atondo@cavium.com

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Sugon Announces ThunderX® Blades for Galaxias SDC1000 High Density Server for Data Centers

Frankfurt Germany, June 21, 2016 – Sugon Information Industry Co. Ltd (“Sugon”), a leader in China’s HPC sector and the largest HPC manufacturer in Asia announced availability of a new blade based on Cavium’s (NASDAQ: CAVM) ThunderX Workload Optimized™processors for Galaxis SDC1000 Data Center server platform.

Sugon Information Industry Co., Ltd (“Sugon”) is a high-tech enterprise formed on the basis of significant scientific and technological achievements under Chinese National 863 Program, with the strong drive from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Sugon specializes in the research, development and manufacture of high-performance computers, general servers and storage products, software services, system integration and other technical support for high-end server platforms. Sugon has won top spot on the list of list of China’s TOP 100 supercomputers by market share for six years in a row from 2009 to 2015. Sugon is publicly traded on Shanghai Stock Exchange (stock code: 603019).

Sugon’s Galaxias SDC1000 server delivers a revolutionary data center platform that brings together processors, networks, storage and IO devices in a unified 4U energy efficient system. The server provides flexible balance between computing, network and storage capabilities thereby reducing resource pooling overheads. SDC1000 can be used for deploying applications such as Hadoop, Spark and resources scheduling software.

Galaxis SDC1000 can accommodate up to 16 ThunderX based blades with up to 64GB of memory per CPU. It supports both dedicated and shared storage options for the blades, dedicated 10G KR network and a 1GbE management network per blade. Each node can be provisioned on demand through a management console. Galaxias SDC1000 can scale from a single chassis with 32 nodes to multiple chassis in a rack and to multi-rack system with a 100GbE 3D torus network.

The ThunderX product family is Cavium’s 64-bit ARMv8-A server processor for next generation Data Center and Cloud applications, and features high performance custom cores, single and dual socket configurations, high memory bandwidth and large memory capacity. The product family also includes integrated hardware accelerators, integrated feature rich high bandwidth network and storage IO, fully virtualized core and IO, and scalable high bandwidth, low latency Ethernet fabric, which affords ThunderX best-in-class performance per dollar and watt. They are fully compliant with ARMv8-A architecture specifications as well as ARM’s SBSA and SBBR standards, and widely supported by industry leading OS, Hypervisor and Software tool and application vendors.

“Our customers continue to demand continued platform innovation that reduces TCO and increases workload performance: said Dr. Xiaojun Yang, Chief Engineer, Sugon Information Industry. “The ThunderX based blades for Galaxis SDC1000 enhances our platform offering to deliver optimized performance key cloud storage and big data workloads, and will allow our customers to meet growing performance demands within their existing infrastructure.”

“We are pleased to partner with Sugon Information Industry on their flagship Galaxis SDC1000 data center server platform,” said Gopal Hegde, VP/GM Data Center Processor Group, Cavium.  “The new ThunderX based blades utilize full range of capabilities of ThunderX SOCs and will deliver best-in-class performance and outstanding TCO for cloud storage and big data applications”.

Availability
ThunderX blades for Galaxias SDC1000 is sampling today.

About Sugon 
Sugon Information Industry Co., Ltd (“Sugon”) is a high-tech enterprise formed on the basis of significant scientific and technological achievements under the National 863 Program, with the strong drive from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Sugon specializes in the research, development and manufacture of high-performance computers, general servers and storage products as well as providing the service of software designing, system integration and other technical support based on high-end computers. In 2014, Sugon was successfully listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange (stock code: 603019).

About Cavium
Cavium is a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor products that enable intelligent processing in enterprise, data center, cloud, wired and wireless service provider applications. Cavium offers a broad portfolio of integrated, software compatible processors ranging in performance up to 100 Gbps that enable secure, intelligent functionality in enterprise, data center, broadband and access & service provider equipment. Cavium’s processors are supported by ecosystem partners that provide operating systems, tool support, reference designs and other services. Cavium’s principal offices are in San Jose, California with design team locations in California, Massachusetts, India, and China. For more information, please visit: http://www.Cavium.com.

Cavium Contact
Angel Atondo
Sr. Marketing Communications Manager
Telephone: +1 408-943-7417
Email: angel.atondo@cavium.com

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