Voltaire switches accelerate 7 of world's 10 most energy-efficient supercomputers

TechWatch takes a look at some of the recent international achievements of Israeli hi-tech companies.

By MATT KRIEGER
hitech88 (photo credit: )
hitech88
(photo credit: )
Blue & White technology has been leaving its mark across the globe for decades now, and despite the sharp economic downturn, is continuing to do so. With this in mind, TechWatch takes a look at some of the recent international achievements of Israeli hi-tech companies. Herzliya-based Voltaire announced last week that the latest Green500 report, published by Green500.org, found that Voltaire Ltd.'s switching technology is connecting the world's most energy-efficient supercomputers. The top seven supercomputers on the list are all comprised of IBM BladeCenter servers and connected with Voltaire Grid Director InfiniBand switches, which deliver high performance coupled with low power consumption. Voltaire switches also provide the connectivity for the world's fastest petaflop supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which took the No. 7 position on the list for energy performance. In addition, Voltaire delivered the high-performance interconnect for many other supercomputers on the list, used for a variety of applications such as astrophysics, energy, pharmaceutical and global-climate research. Delivering 20 Gb/s InfiniBand performance - with 40 Gb/s solutions expected to be available later this month - Voltaire director-class switches require on average only 5 watts of power per port, making them much more energy efficient than 10 Gigabit Ethernet core switches that can consume between 18 and 100 watts of power per port. A recent survey commissioned by Voltaire delivered similar findings about the importance of data center energy efficiency: nearly 90 percent of executives surveyed said they believe greening their data centers will be crucial to meeting their companies' business objectives in 2009, and 57% said they believe going green gives them a competitive advantage. The survey queried CIOs, CTOs, and senior IT executives who attended the 2008 MIT Sloan CIO Symposium. The Green500 (www.green500.org) is a list ranking the most energy-efficient supercomputers in the world and serves as a complementary view to the TOP500 (www.top500.org) list of the most powerful supercomputers. Retalix, a global provider of software solutions for distributors and retailers based in Ra'anana, announced earlier this month that C&S Wholesale Grocers, the second-largest grocery wholesaler in the US, has deployed the Retalix Dock Scheduling system at all 34 of its distribution centers across the US. The distributor already reports significant efficiency gains in scheduling processes and improved visibility at its distribution centers using the Retalix system. Based in Keene, New Hampshire, C&S Wholesale Grocers serves large chain supermarkets, independent grocers and military bases at more than 5,000 locations in 12 states. The Retalix Dock Scheduling implementation went live at the first warehouse in March, and in less than three months, all 34 locations were rolled out. C&S currently reports that more than 60% of vendor and carrier appointments are scheduled through a custom-built portal and implemented via the Internet. More than 21,000 appointments were scheduled in the past month, and C&S expects this number to continue to grow, as the solution gives the $19 billion wholesaler unprecedented visibility into its supply chain process. Scopus Video Networks, based in Tel Aviv, announced earlier this month that leading Brazilian broadcasting company RMT has chosen Scopus digital networking solutions to upgrade the video distribution networks for two regional RMT television stations, TV Centro America and TV Morena. The combination of Scopus encoding, multiplexing, DVB S2 channel coding and network management equipment has helped RMT significantly reduce its bandwidth costs and raise its quality-of-service levels for viewers throughout two large Brazilian states. TV Centro America broadcasts to 120 cities in Mato Grosso state, and TV Morena broadcasts to 100 cities in Mato Grosso do Sul state. Both stations are regional affiliates of TV Globo, Brazil's largest television network. Prior to installing the Scopus equipment, the stations' satellite distribution system was based on leased equipment that had become outdated and could no longer meet RMT's standards for reliability and quality of service. After evaluating multiple vendors, RMT chose a combination of equipment from Scopus, installing UE-9000 encoders, the IVG 7304 Intelligent Video Gateway, IRD-2900 integrated receiver decoders, and the NMS 4000 centralized network management system. Radware, headquartered in Tel Aviv, the leading provider of integrated application delivery solutions for business-smart networking, announced last week that Hotel Reservation Service (HRS), Europe's leading on-line hotel reservation portal, has successfully deployed Radware's intelligent Application Delivery solution to ensure the high availability and accelerated performance of HRS's network systems and offer the best user experience - simple, secure and fast. Radware's scalable OnDemand Switch platform keeps HRS and its global corporate network running smoothly, even when faced with constantly rising demand. The OnDemand Switch enables HRS to work with confidence, knowing that its applications have high availability around the clock - even during extreme peak periods. The implementation partner for this project was Networkers AG, a subsidiary of Controlware GmbH. As an elite partner, the company not only has years of expertise in the area of network and infrastructure technology but also boasts more than 10 trained Radware specialists on its German staff. Jerusalem-based NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, last week acknowledged that Tata Sky, the leading provider of Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite pay-TV services in India, has achieved another major milestone in reaching 3 million subscribers within a period of just 27 months. The latest 1 million subscribers were gained in just seven months. In partnership with NDS, Tata Sky has revolutionized television viewing for Indian audiences. Powered by NDS, Tata Sky's interactive services include Active Star News with interactive news and weather updates and a range of popular multi-level games. Together, these NDS solutions enable Tata Sky to deliver advanced services that are the basis for a viewing experience that is unsurpassed in the rapidly expanding pay-TV market in India. NDS CAS and DRM technology protects over 95.4 million digital devices, including over 14.5 million DVRs, around the globe, making NDS the global leader. Middleware from NDS has been deployed in over 98.7 million devices. NDS facilities in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore all play a role in supporting Tata Sky. mattkrieger@gmail.com