IBM and Arctur, one of Slovenia's leading software developers, have announced an agreement to build one of the most powerful supercomputers in the region. Arctur will allow midmarket companies to lease time on IBM’s newest IBM iDataPlex system and help reduce product development time by up to 75 percent.

"The agreement we concluded earlier this month helps us provide clients supercomputing resources cost effectively via a cloud environment," said Tomi Ilijas, CEO of Arctur. "The IBM system allows Arctur to increase workloads without dramatically increasing power and cooling requirements. This efficiency will become even more important as Arctur continues to work on key projects, enabling computer assisted modelling services to small and medium enterprises through high performance cloud computing.  In 2011, when the software platform for the IBM iDataPlex will be fully developed and implemented, Slovenian midmarket companies will have the possibility to lease computing time and top-capacities, thus shortening their product development cycle under economically affordable conditions."

Arctur expects its clients will use the IBM iDataPlex system in areas such as developing and testing new composite materials, which are formed by the combination of two or more materials with very different properties. These composite materials, which can be man-made or natural, are being used in industries such as aerospace, automotive, bridge and building, marine, sporting goods, and textile parts and assembly. It can take up to 12 months to design, test and implement a new product from composite materials. The possibility to run the extensive simulations on a supercomputer, especially on micro or nano scale, may save clients up to 75 percent of their development time.

"As the demand for supercomputer-style power grows, IBM is packaging the technology in new ways for users that might not have the space, power and resources required to build traditional-style clusters," said Roman Koritnik, Country General Manager, IBM Slovenia. "The iDataPlex provides the right mix of technology innovation and computing power to help Arctur and its clients reach their ambitious goals.”

The IBM iDataPlex supercomputer running Linux will be capable of performing approximately 10 trillion calculations per second (rpeak teraflops) and is expected to grow to 25 teraflops in near future.The computer harnesses the latest Intel six-core processors and QDR InfiniBand in an IBM design that dramatically improves energy efficiency and cooling requirements.

iDataPlex maximizes performance per watt with innovative cooling techniques such as the IBM Rear Door Heat eXchanger. This liquid-cooled panel on the back of the unit can eliminate the need for computer-room air conditioners, allowing for room temperature operation. A single iDataPlex 2U server packs five times the computer power of a typical server while consuming 40 percent less power.

The iDataPlex system is the second supercomputer system to be delivered by IBM in Slovenia. In 2008, Turboinštitut acquired Adria - a 2.048-core system of 256 IBM BladeCenter servers based on Linux, which was then the most powerful supercomputer in South Eastern Europe.