3Leaf Systems Debuts Server Architecture

3Leaf Systems today announced the availability of the Dynamic Data Center Server. Based on Opteron processors from Advanced Micro Devices running Linux operating systems, the 3Leaf platform for high-performance computing applications can be configured with up to 192 processor cores that can access up to 1TB of shared memory and 8TB of storage.

Complete with 3leaf software that makes all the processor available to any application on the system, the 3Leaf system is priced starting around $250,000. A configuration with 96 processors access 256GB of shared memory and 4TB of storage is priced starting around $99,000.

Next year, 3Leaf intends to deliver software that will allow applications to dynamically scale across the entire 3Leaf system. In the meantime, IT organizations can assign processors within the 3Leaf system to specific application workloads, with all those workloads sharing the same pool of memory and access to storage over InfiniBand connections. That process is managed by a set of custom ASIC processors that 3Leaf developed deploy software that manages the overall server environment.

3Leaf is positioning its platform as part of a new class of truly-balanced servers that take advantage of all the latest technologies to balance I/O performance. The goal, company officials said, is to bring two-socket server pricing model to symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP) systems that typically cost thousands of dollars more than the 3Leaf system. To that end, 3Leaf plans to deliver a 32-node version of the platform next year that will be able to support up to 384 processors.

Next year the company also intends to roll out a version of the platform that employs Intel processors as an alternative to AMD processors.