News

HP boosts grid computing strength

• By Michael W. Bucken
• September 9, 2002

The move by computer suppliers to the Grid computing model moved along today with news that Hewlett-Packard Co. has signed a systems integration agreement with grid pioneer Avaki Corp., Cambridge, Mass. The agreement calls for HP to resell the Avaki 2.5 grid software worldwide.

Avaki is also closely aligned to top computer suppliers IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc., which are also championing the grid computing cause.

Under the latest agreement, the Avaki software, which is said to simplify the complexity associated with accessing data and computer resources across geographically dispersed organizations, will be ported to HP's high-performance AlphaServer systems running Tru64 UNIX and to the ProLiant server line, which run the Linux and Windows operating systems.

Officials from both firms said the effort will first focus on life sciences research and development organizations, where analysts say there have been significant initial grid computing deployments. ''We're seeing a growing demand for data grid solutions, particularly from our life sciences customers,'' said Winston Prather, vice president of HP's High Performance Technical Computing Division. Prather added that he expects the Avaki relationship to boost HP's position in the commercial data grid software business.

The agreement was reached shortly after the unveiling of version 2.5 of the Avaki software. The new version is said to incorporate several enhancements, including advanced caching mechanisms that increase data grid performance, which in turn allows for wide-area data access with performance comparable to local area access, and reduce the administrative burdens on end-users and systems administrators. Avaki officials maintain that the new version can be deployed far quicker than the more traditional grid toolkits, which can require substantial custom development.