Dell cluster is prospecting for black gold

A new cluster of Dell computers is helping France's Compagnie Generale de Geophysique in its search for oil.

The oil-services company, otherwise known as CGG, has purchased 1,125 new Dell PowerEdge servers to go into computing clusters used in searching out oil and gas deposits based on seismic modelling, Dell said in a statement Wednesday.

CGG's newest server purchases, to be installed in clusters in the US, Canada, France, Kuala Lumpur and the UK, will join several other CGG Dell clusters, including a 3,000 node cluster and a 512 node Dell server cluster, Dell said.

While clusters offer lots of performance for companies in industries such as oil and gas, they also promise to help Dell further its goal of growing revenue to the $60bn mark over the next few years.

Because clusters could help Dell win ever-larger computer sales from businesses, the manufacturer has put a large amount of emphasis on building business there. It has launched a special cluster program that offers businesses cluster starter packages and service programs that help implement them.

Some of Dell's other clusters include a 2008 node installation at the State University of New York at Buffalo, which is being used for projects such as genetics research. The University of Liverpool has also installed a 940 node Dell cluster for use by its physics department.

John G Spooner writes for News.com