ScaleMP Pushes Clusters ScaleMP Pushes Clusters

By Doug Barney

When we think of virtualization, we oftenimagine one powerful PC, server or even a mainframe sliced into multiple virtualmachines. The opposite is also a form of virtualization – say turning multiplediscrete servers into one humongous machine.

One such player is ScaleMP(Cupertino, CA), which on April Fool’s Day announced the latestadditions to its Versatile SMP architecture, an architecture that turns x86servers into huge SMP systems.

The new vSMP Foundation Standalone usesInfiniband to link two dual or quadcore Xeon systems, creating a robust SMPmachine for under ten grand, the company claims. ScaleMP, founded some fiveyears ago, also argues that its SMP approach is far simpler to set up, use, andmanage than traditional clusters. Investors seem to believe them. So far thecompany has raised around $26 million in venture capital.

http://www.scalemp.com/company/news/2008-Apr-01-vSMP-Foundation-Standalone/