SANDY, Utah, 08 November 1999 - Alta Technology's popular AltaCluster systems are now available as rackmountable cluster modules (R-Cluster).  R-Cluster modules are available using Intel's Pentium III, AMD's K7, or Compaq's Alpha processor, providing users with a variety of price and performance choices.  The R-Cluster combines scalable performance and unique management capabilities to form reliable multi-processor systems.  Implementing standard PCI technology and the powerful Linux operating system, R-Cluster technology provides supercomputer performance at a lower cost of ownership.  R-Cluster modules are ideal for use in complex data processing and analysis applications.

According to Clark Roundy, Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Alta Technology, "In addition to cost savings over conventional supercomputers, a major advantage of the R-Cluster system is its scalability."  As a company grows and the need for greater performance is increased, more nodes are easily  added to the system. He continues, "However, as many clustered system users have found, lower price does not always justify the use of a clustered system.  System usability, reliability, and the overall cost of administering and maintaining a clustered system are important factors in choosing a system platform.  Alta's focus is to provide a platform that reduces the total cost of ownership and not just the initial cost."

Alta has devoted a great deal of R&D effort in developing a platform that facilitates a powerful, reliable, and user friendly system environment.  The result of this effort is the Alta Cluster Environment (ACE).  ACE provides temperature monitoring of individual processors, remote reset of nodes, power sequencing, disk cloning, advanced failure notification capabilities, and various other system utilities.  While features continue to be added to ACE, this technology establishes Alta's clustered technology as the leader in system manageability, scalability, and reliability.

R-Cluster system configurations provide up to eight 4U compute modules or sixteen 2U compute modules in a standard 40U rack--complete with 10/100 Ethernet network switch, and the ACE control system.  Individual modules are available with 1 or 2 processors and come complete with hard drive and memory (up to 1 GB per node).  Systems are very flexible and allow for configuration options such as Gigabit Ethernet, Myrinet, and multiple 10/100 networks; or the addition of RAID or SAN storage subsystems.  R-Clusters are stackable and scalable from 1 to 1000's of processors.

R-Cluster systems are fully integrated with Linux, which is quickly becoming the defacto standard for cluster systems. CNET News records that Linux is growing in popularity and use twice as fast as any other server operating system.

R-Cluster systems implement Message Passing Interface (MPI) and Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) technology, facilitating the creation of a scalable, high performance architecture capable of very efficient parallel processing.  The R-Cluster may also be equipped with PBS for batch job scheduling, Mosex for cluster load balancing, and Global File System (GFS) a network attached storage system. Systems can be used as virtual servers, high availability systems, render farms, or can be application specific.

Scalable systems from Alta Technology are in use worldwide by commercial, government, research, and educational organizations. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Alta Technology by phone at 801-562-1010; by fax at 801-568-1010; by email at sales@altatech.com or by visiting Alta's web site at www.altatech.com.

Founded in 1989 to develop specialized and custom board-level products, Alta Technology Corporation has evolved into a leading supplier of off-the-shelf parallel and embedded real-time computation products and services. Customer applications range from high-speed telecommunications and networking to data acquisition, signal/image processing and machine control. Alta specializes in high performance computing with a broad product portfolio that includes Single Board Computers, 3D Graphics Accelerators, Gigabit Ethernet Adapters, and Scalable Systems. In addition to AltaCluster systems, products form Alta include CompactPCI® systems and board-level products, PCI peripheral boards, and PCI Mezzanine Cards (PMC).