PSSC Labs (Professional Service Super Computer Laboratories) announced today the delivery of Linux-based clusters, known as Powerwulfs, to three of the country's top learning institutions. The Powerwulfs, using AMD's Opteron processors running the latest Linux OS, will be used to perform various tasks including computer design modeling.

University researchers are traditionally heavy users of computing power. They can make use of thousands of MIPS (millions of instructions per second) in modeling everything from the weather to economic theories. At most schools, there's never enough computing power to go around. The supercomputers traditionally used for numerically intensive research can cost millions of dollars - and require specialized, expensive care and maintenance.

"These latest acquisitions by prestigious schools continue a long-standing relationship that PSSC Labs has with the educational community," said Alex Lesser, Vice President of PSSC Labs. "We enjoy providing the world's premier professors with affordable tools that accelerate research in so many diverse fields."

The PSSC Labs machines were each shipped with CBeST v.3.0 (Complete Beowulf Software Toolkit), PSSC's proprietary cluster management package. According to customers who have used CBeST 3.0, the toolkit allows for easier cluster management, allowing them to focus more intently on the research tasks that the systems are performing.

At Syracuse University, Engineering Professor Thong Dang is using a PSSC Labs Powerwulf's design modeling capabilities to improve efficiency in the engineering of everything from rockets to air conditioners to medical thermometers. Professor Dang created a new design method, the 3-D and Viscous Inverse Design Code, which substantially improved the efficiency of compressor blades for jet engines and also reduced the time needed to design the blades.

The Powerwulf at Stanford will be used by Professor Russ B. Altman,MD, PHD, the director of bioinformatics. The relatively new discipline deals primarily with the creation and development of advanced information and computational technologies for problems in biology and most commonly molecular biology but can encompass other elements like population modeling and numerical simulations.

The PSSC Labs cluster purchased by Harvard University will be used by the Harvard Medical School to conduct biomedical research.