NASA's idea of next-generation technology is based on a Linux system. According to CNNMoney.com, NASA has selected a record-setting SGI Altix supercomputer in its evaluation to meet future high-performance computing (HPC) requirements.

A single Linux OS would stand behind this system, which will be the largest Linux single system image ever existing. The respective supercomputer is said to be powered by 1,024 Dual-Core Intel Itanium 2 processors and 4TB of memory. Among the supercomputer, the agency also gets an ultra-dense 240TB SGI(R) InfiniteStorage 10000 system to handle the massive data storage requirements. The SGI Altix system is expected to be installed in August at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility at the Ames Research Center in California.

Dr. Piyush Mehrotra, leader of the NASA applications group has stated regarding this initiative:

"Supercomputers play a critical role in many NASA missions, including new space vehicle design, global climate studies and astrophysics research. We look forward to evaluating SGI's latest HPC offerings as part of our long-term technology refresh effort."

Robert Ewald, CEO, SGI underlined the relationship between SGI and NASA and also expressed his hopes in future collaborations, stating in his turn:

"NASA scientists already rely on SGI Altix systems for a range of research, from designing safer, more advanced spacecraft to understanding the long-term effects of climate change. These researchers pursue work that is essential not only to the United States, but to the world at large. SGI looks forward to continuing to work with NASA as it seeks leading-edge HPC compute and data management solutions to meet its evolving needs."

Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI for short) is a company manufacturing high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software. Initially created as a maker of 3D graphics display terminals, SGI's products, strategies and market positions have varied with time. Among the Itaniu-based servers the company currently develops SGI 750 workstation, Altix 330 mid-range server, Altix 350 mid-range server, Altix 3000 high-end server and the Prism high-end workstation must be mentioned.