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SGI Seizes Lead In Database Performance For Mid-Sized Servers

Silicon Graphics announced that its SGI Altix server has once again proven dominant against key competitors including Hewlett Packard. In recent database benchmark tests, a mid-range Altix system set a new performance record for stand-alone, eight-processor servers. The results show that a mid-range Altix system offers leading performance for users who depend on complex databases for their technical, scientific and creative applications.

The Altix system's record-breaking TPC Benchmark H (TPC-H) 300GB benchmark result was achieved on an eight-processor SGI Altix server. With this new record, Altix surpasses non-clustered results posted by other leading vendors including those for an eight-processor Hewlett Packard server and a 16-processor Unisys server -- as well as the recent posting for an eight-processor, dual-node Dell cluster running Oracle Database 10g.

The industry standard Transaction Processing Performance Council's TPC-H benchmark is an important measure of database performance for high-performance computing (HPC) customers because it simulates the complex database tasks that lie at the core of many HPC customer workflows. The benchmark reflects decision support systems that examine large volumes of data, execute queries with a high degree of complexity and give answers to critical business questions.

The published result of 8827.5 QphH@300GB sets two records for the TPC-H 300GB scale factor benchmark. It is the highest non-clustered result, and the highest eight-processor result.

The test configuration is based on Intel Itanium 2 processors running IBM DB2 Universal Database (UDB), and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

Since its debut, SGI Altix has consistently shattered industry-standard benchmark records, regularly outpacing competing systems from HP, Sun and others. For instance, SGI Altix continues to dominate the respected STREAM list of the 20 fastest systems in terms of memory bandwidth (www.cs.virginia.edu/stream/top20/Bandwidth.html). STREAM is designed to work with extremely large data sets, thus replicating the computing conditions created by large, vector-style applications.

The Altix system's latest performance victory demonstrates the advantage Altix brings to mission critical applications in areas such as homeland security, bioinformatics and energy exploration. The open, standards-based Altix line is designed specifically to meet the demanding requirements of HPC environments.

About SGI

SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics Inc, is a provider of high-performance computing, visualization and storage. SGI's vision is to provide technology that enables the most significant scientific and creative breakthroughs of the 21st century. Whether it's sharing images to aid in brain surgery, finding oil more efficiently, studying global climate, providing technologies for homeland security and defense or enabling the transition from analog to digital broadcasting, SGI is dedicated to addressing the next class of challenges for scientific, engineering and creative users. With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and can be found on the Web at www.sgi.com.