Thursday, December 15, 2005

IBM Opens File System, Taps Linux Networx For Support

IBM has opened up its popular GPFS file system, used for high performance supercomputing, and has tapped Bluffdale Utah-based Linux Networx to sell and support the solution. GPFS (General Prallel File System) is a software pacakge used by hardware vendors to access data in computing clusters. GPFS is used by hardware vendors to allow multiple computers access to the same data at the same time, a technique which is particularly important in the supercomputing field. Linux Networx will support GPFS deployments within its LS Series Linux Supersystems, the company's packaged clustered Linux products. IBM's GPFS is used in engineering design, digital media, data mining, scientific research, and other high throughput, data intensive applications. IBM said that it will continue to develop GPFS, but will now offer source code access to clients. Linux Networx markets its Linux computing clusters for supercomputing.