Lancaster University Awards Viglen and Platform Computing First Class Honors for High Performance Computing

LONDON, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Platform Computing, the leader in cluster, grid and cloud management software, today announced that Lancaster University has selected its Platform HPC Enterprise Edition solution for High Performance Computing (HPC), through its key UK partner, Viglen, a leading British manufacturer and provider of IT solutions to the education and public sector.

Lancaster University is one of the UK's top research institutions so having access to enterprise-class HPC power is mission-critical. Lancaster University has been an HPC user for several years but decided to adopt a more strategic and centralized approach when it began looking at refreshing and upgrading its resources in 2009. The new HPC resources will allow Lancaster University to maintain an enviable record in cutting edge computer-based research.  This ranges from fundamental physics and quantum transport in carbon nanotubes, to deeply human studies such as bioinformatics, financial market modeling and the analysis of labor markets, with a rich spectrum of results in between.

Through a four year framework agreement as sole supplier of High End Computer Systems with Viglen, Lancaster University will have a close relationship with both Platform Computing and Viglen, benefiting from world-class HPC management software and hardware designed for high end computing facilities, 24 hour support and a commercially supported solution which will have an overall impact on reducing total cost of ownership and improving efficiency.

Professor Roger Jones, director of high end computing, Lancaster University, said: "Lancaster has established itself as a major centre for computer-based research. With this new facility, we will be able push forward with problems that require lots of processing power, huge data volumes or both."

Tripp Purvis, vice president, business development, Platform Computing, said: "This project marks an incredibly exciting time for us as it is our first joint initiative with Viglen and our first HPC Enterprise Edition higher education customer in Europe. Platform HPC Enterprise Edition offers a one-stop shopping experience -- a complete cluster solution that provides superior user performance, improved reliability and reduced cost of ownership while removing the complexity associated with HPC clusters."

Bordan Tkachuk, CEO of Viglen, added: "We have been seeing increased demand from the market for HPC solutions: it was clear to us that Platform Computing offers the most comprehensive package and would naturally be the best option for our customers. We are delighted that Lancaster University is advancing its centralized HPC facility with a Viglen solution and looking forward to embarking on a successful long-term partnership. As a British IT solution provider, it is a great achievement to be competing and succeeding against international giants."

Installed and managed from a single console, Platform HPC Enterprise Edition features an integrated system of cluster configuration, deployment, job scheduling, monitoring and management capabilities that address the needs of general cluster environments. With application integration support for some of the most popular HPC applications via an easy to customize web portal, users can harness the flexibility, power, and scalability needed to radically improve the performance of their applications.

About Platform Computing

Platform Computing is the leader in cluster, grid and cloud management software -- serving more than 2,000 of the world's most demanding organizations. For 17 years, our workload and resource management solutions have delivered IT responsiveness and lower costs for enterprise and HPC applications. Platform has strategic relationships with Cray, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Red Hat, and SAS. Visit www.platform.com.

About Viglen

Viglen continues to be a leading British provider of innovative IT solutions to the public and education sector. With a pedigree second to none, Viglen is today one of the fastest growing IT solutions organizations, offering a totally integrated end-to-end service. Visit www.viglen.co.uk/HPC

About University of Lancaster

Lancaster University www.lancs.ac.uk, founded in 1964, has won international recognition for the quality of its teaching and research and is currently ranked top university in the Northwest by all the major league tables. Some key areas of research are ranked top in the UK according to the latest Research Assessment Exercise -- these include 1st in the UK for Physics, top 3 for both Bio-medicine and Art and Design and 100% of Computing research considered 'internationally significant'.

SOURCE Platform Computing