Hess Explores Benefits of Virtualization with NVIDIA SLI Multi OS Technology on HP Workstations

By DE Editors

Hess Corp., a global independent energy company, is using HP Z800 workstations outfitted with NVIDIA Quadro graphics processing units (GPUs) and NVIDIA SLI Multi-OS technology to investigate reducing IT costs while increasing productivity for geosciences professionals.

Leveraging virtualization technologies from NVIDIA, Parallels and others, the HP Z800 workstation delivers the speed and expandability that oil and gas professionals can fully utilize to tackle their biggest challenges.

“In our constantly challenging and highly competitive business environment,  cost-effective, flexible, powerful IT solutions are critically important,”  said Jeff Davis, manager, Technical Computing, at Hess. “We’re examining how the HP Z800 workstation, bolstered by the technologies incorporated in it from NVIDIA, can help us with our ongoing exploration efforts.”

NVIDIA SLI Multi-OS enables Hess to run both Microsoft Windows and Red Hat Enterprise Linux simultaneously on a single workstation.

Using Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (Intel VT-d) hardware acceleration, SLI Multi-OS allows Hess to directly assign NVIDIA Quadro graphics processing units (GPUs) to virtual machines.

Parallels Workstation 4.0 Extreme is a virtualization solution that offer users near-native performance for graphics-intensive applications. The product leverages the key virtualization technologies enabled by NVIDIA and Intel to deliver virtual machines for demanding visualization applications.

HP and NVIDIA will be demonstrating the HP Z800 workstation powered by Quadro professional graphics solutions and SLI Multi-OS technology, Intel VT-d and Parallels Workstation 4.0 Extreme, at the Society of Exploration Geophysicists International Exposition (SEG 2009) at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston Oct. 26-29.

For more information, visit NVIDIA, HP, and Parallels.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.