IBM wins big grid server and storage deal

The University of Florida has bought a lower-end IBM z800 mainframe along with 32 Intel-based servers to investigate grid computing, a method of spreading calculations across groups of machines.

The z800 system is the 1,000th of the 'Raptor' systems sold since IBM released them in March 2002, Big Blue plans to announce later today.

The University of Florida is combining grid technology with virtualisation technology that lets several operating systems run simultaneously on one computer. IBM's mainframes have had this virtualisation feature for years. IBM's z/VM operating system, in particular, lets numerous instances of Linux co-exist on the same mainframe.

The university has created software that lets actual grids be carved up into private ones for individual users or specific applications. The researchers are using the z800 with z/VM and Linux and the cluster of Intel servers running VMware's virtualisation software for Linux. In addition to developing grid virtualisation, the systems will be used for nanotechnology and computer science research.

The US National Science Foundation funded the purchase of the z800, which was sold by Cornerstone Systems. The University of Florida also bought an Enterprise Storage Server '"Shark' system with 3.36 terabytes of capacity.

Stephen Shankland writes for CNET News.com.