SIGGRAPH: BlackSky shows high-performance computers
August 10, 2011

SIGGRAPH: BlackSky shows high-performance computers

VANCOUVER — BlackSky Computing (www.blackskycomputing.com) debuted its line of high performance computing (HPC) solutions at SIGGRAPH. The company is also showing its new Apollo storage system, which is optimized for extreme performance, massive scalability and space savings.

Obsidian is BlackSky’s desktop HPC solution, which offers high performance through the choice of either dual Intel Xeon processors with up to 96 GB of DDR3 1333 ECC RAM and up to 12 cores or a single Intel i7 Sandy Bridge processor with up to 32 GB DDR3 1333 RAM and up to 4 cores. The company offers storage that provides up to 1,400MB/sec. sequential read and write times, which is nearly six times faster than a standard SSD drive. Buyers have a choice of the latest generation of Nvidia video cards. which are specifically optimized for CAD and VFX. And Obsidian desktop HPC computers can come pre-loaded with many popular software packages.

SkyNet is a cloud-based HPC solution for studios that demand performance, but don’t want the electric, setup, and maintenance responsibilities associated with high-end computing. Files are automatically and securely synchronized between each user's computer and the SkyNet system so users don't have to worry about uploading and downloading files. SkyNet can be accessed by any computer with an Internet connection. 

And the Hyperion is an enterprise solution that’s designed to fit a wide range of computing situation. The 5RU unit can serve as a building block for high performance compute clusters, datacenters, render farms, virtual machines, private clouds, and other applications that require a lot of computers in a small amount of space. Each Hyperion can fit up to 10 compute cards, and each compute card can have up to two Intel Xeon CPUs and up to 96 GB of DDR3 ECC 1333 RAM. 

BlackSky’s Apollo storage solution can provide up to 180TB of storage in a single RAID array or 90TB of storage with mirrored redundancy in a single 4RU enclosure. Multiple Apollo systems can be linked together into a single network mounted volume allowing studios to create around a petabyte of mirrored storage in a single server rack. Apollo comes standard with four 1Gb/s Ethernet ports and can be upgraded to dual 10 Gb/s Ethernet ports or dual 40 Gb/s Infiniband ports.