BALTIMORE - At SuperComputing 2002, AMD today announced tool and hardware interconnect support for high-performance computers based on the AMD Athlon(tm) MP and the upcoming AMD OpteronTM processors. High-performance computing (HPC) allows commercial customers to increase processing speed by connecting multiple processors with high-speed interconnect technologies to create powerful clusters. "AMD processors will provide HPC customers excellent memory bandwidth and increased performance, while evolving to a 64-bit computing environment," said Marty Seyer, AMD vice president, server business. "AMD Opteron technology is designed to protect customers' 32-bit investments in hardware and software, and deliver maximum performance for clustered computing. It will also provide HPC manufacturers more choices, and industry-leading x86 benefits to customers now using proprietary high-cost servers." Interconnect Hardware Developers Support Interconnect hardware developers supporting AMD's HPC technology initiative include 64-bit compatible Myricom Inc., and Dolphin Interconnect Solutions Inc. and Quadrics Ltd., which are currently developing 64-bit compatibility. "Myricom is advancing Myrinet HPC interconnecting technology due to our compatibility with upcoming AMD Opteron processors on a Linux operating system," said Dr. Nan Boden, Myricom executive vice president. "With our high-quality products and excellent standards, we are supporting AMD's processing technology for increased speed, performance and reliability. We recognize that the future of HPC is x86-based, 64-bit computing, and we are working to optimize our products for the AMD Opteron platform." "Dolphin's support for the upcoming AMD Opteron processors underscores our commitment to provide interconnecting optimized for the latest technology," said Keith Murphy, Dolphin Interconnect Solutions vice president of sales. "Our entire product line for clustering interconnect cards will soon support x86-based, 64-bit computing for high-performance server clustering systems." "Supercomputing applications will be able to benefit from the powerful combination of Quadrics' QsNet high-performance network products and AMD Opteron processor technology," said Drazen Stilinovic, General Manager of Quadrics. "Performance is our top priority, and Quadrics with the upcoming AMD Opteron processors will be able to provide low latency, high bandwidth and scalability for building Linux cluster systems. We are working closely with AMD to help ensure that QsNet products are fully compatible with future AMD server products." Software Tools Support Software tools with 64-bit compatibility can enable simplified development of 64-bit cluster computing for the upcoming AMD Opteron processor. Companies currently developing 64-bit tools to support AMD's HPC technology initiative include Pallas GmbH and Scyld Computing Corporation. "Vampir/Vampirtrace, a leading parallel performance analysis tool, now supports AMD Athlon processor-based Linux cluster computing. We plan to achieve compatibility with AMD's upcoming 64-bit processors soon," said Werner Krotz-Vogel, Pallas GmbH chief sales officer. "With the widespread adoption of this technology in HPC, we believe that Vampir/Vampirtrace provides the best way to analyze the runtime behavior of parallel applications. Our shared customers - application developers, enterprise users, and the high-performance computing community - expect to obtain peak 32- and 64-bit performance, and Vampir/Vampirtrace will soon assist them in achieving it." "Large Linux clusters are being widely deployed as a cost-effective approach to scale performance from prototypes up to supercomputer performance, while providing high reliability and a uniform hardware and software architecture across the enterprise," said Donald Becker, CTO of Scyld Computing Corporation. "We are working together with leaders such as AMD to maximize the performance of applications while providing customers with 64-bit cluster management software." AMD also announced plans to enable a 64-bit version of Message Passing Interface (MPICH), an open source application that enables parallel computing. Upcoming hardware and software will be designed to support AMD's x86-64 architecture, helping customers protect current investments in 32-bit technology, and allowing seamless migration to powerful 64-bit computing environments as needed. AMD Opteron processors are planned to be available in the first half of 2003 for servers and workstations.