ETH Eurotech SpA

Eurotech, a leading provider of supercomputing and embedded technologies, has announced that their HiVe HPC system is now generally available, not only with x86 CPUs, but also with ARM-64 based processors provided by Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (NASDAQ:AMCC).

The HiVe supercomputer leverages a new original high performance computing (HPC) system architecture combining extreme density and best-in-class energy efficiency. The new architecture is based on an innovative highly modular and scalable way of packaging electronics and water cooling, leaving no space unutilized and boasting record-breaking computational density. The HiVe is currently the densest HPC system in the market with a peak performance of more than 1 PFlop/s in one square meter (1.5 PFlop/s per square meter when equipped with NVIDIA Tesla K80).

For the ARM HiVe system development, Eurotech partnered with AppliedMicro, a California-based data center semiconductor company, utilizing the X-Gene processor, the world's first ARMv8-A Server on a Chip® solution. Eurotech has paired the X-Gene processor with NVIDIA® Tesla® and AMD FirePro™ GPU accelerators and Intel® Xeon™ coprocessors to efficiently deliver high performance for demanding HPC workloads.

The use of X-Gene processors adds to the already sound HiVe energy efficiency figures, taking them to extreme levels. An HiVe HPC system can perform at top efficiency in terms of sustained flops/watt and it exploits the latest generation of the Eurotech's patented direct hot liquid cooling, which allows "free cooling" even in the warmest climates on earth and features the best PUE in the industry. This means HiVe brings consistent energy savings at datacentre level.

The collaboration between AppliedMicro and Eurotech has also scored another goal. At the moment, HiVe is the only direct liquid cooled system that combines in a compact server 4 GPGPUs with a 64-bit ARM CPU.

"Eurotech has a track record of introducing revolutionary technologies to the HPC market, starting with the first direct hot liquid cooling products worldwide in 2009," – says Fabio Gallo, Eurotech Aurora GM – "The ARM-64 version of our HiVe accelerated supercomputer, which uses AppliedMicro's X-Gene processors, is no exception. It is the densest and most powerful ARM-64 based supercomputer in the industry."

The X-Gene processor utilizes a custom ARMv8-A microarchitecture developed to achieve a balance of maximum performance and power-efficiency. The X-Gene solution is a true Server on a Chip architecture providing 8 high performance processor cores coupled with the bandwidth of 4 high speed DDR memory channels and on-chip integration including 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, a management processor, storage interfaces, and PCI-Express® Gen 3 I/O expansion.

"We are very excited to see Eurotech coupling their innovative HiVe architecture with AppliedMicro's X-Gene technology," said Kumar Sankaran, Associate Vice President of Software and Platforms at AppliedMicro. "The X-Gene architecture is optimized for high density compute platforms and is an ideal vehicle to enable Eurotech platforms to deliver leading-edge performance and cost-effectiveness."

The HiVe architecture allows for different types of modules to be used, obtaining different configurations with the flexibility to adapt to various workloads. With the goal to maximize energy efficiency, the HiVe can be configured with each of the Infiniband connected nodes provided with a CPU board mounting the AppliedMicro SoC in combination with 4 of the latest GPUs or coprocessors. Such system configuration has been successfully tested with a set of applications running on Linux CentOS operating system.

About Eurotech

Eurotech (ETH.MI) is a global company based in Italy and with subsidiaries in Europe, North America and Asia. The Eurotech Group develops and markets HPC systems and miniaturized computers for special uses (NanoPCs). The Eurotech HPC division has more than 15 years of experience in designing and manufacturing HPC systems, with a commitment to continuous innovation through R&D nurtured in house and in collaboration with the most important research centres in Europe. Eurotech HPC designs and delivers solutions that help customers to maximize results while minimizing time to market and TCO. Learn more about Eurotech at www.eurotech.com

About AppliedMicro

Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (NASDAQ:AMCC) is a global leader in computing and connectivity solutions for next-generation cloud infrastructure and data centers. AppliedMicro delivers silicon solutions that dramatically lower total cost of ownership. Corporate headquarters are located in Santa Clara, California. www.apm.com.

(C) Copyright 2015, Applied Micro Circuits Corporation. AppliedMicro, X-Gene, X-Weave, Server on a Chip, and Cloud Server are registered trademarks of Applied Micro Circuits Corporation. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Company contacts:
         
         Giovanbattista Mattiussi
         Marketing Manager HPC, Eurotech
         giovanbattista.mattiussi@eurotech.com
         
         Mike Major
         Applied Micro Circuits Corporation
         Phone: (408) 542-8831
         mmajor@apm.com
         
         Jennifer Grabowski
         Racepoint Global for Applied Micro Circuits Corporation
         Phone: +1-617-624-3231
         APM@racepointglobal.com