Modular Computing

Seminar Report’03 Modular Computing
INTRODUCTION
I T’s Challenge
In the past three tears, the world has changed for information technology
groups. In the late 1990s, the predominant problem was deploying equipment
and software quickly enough to keep up with demand for computing. While the
tech sector boomed on Wall Street, money was no object. IT budgets swelled
and the numbers of computers in data centers grew exponentially.
Now, in the early 2000s, the picture is very different. IT budgets are flat
down, yet business demand for IT services continues to escalate. This
combination of more demand and constrained budgets has compelled IT groups
to consider new approaches to IT infrastructure, approaches that offer more
flexibility and lower cost of ownership.
The common theme is cost cutting. In today’s world, profits come less
easily than in 1990s. Competitors are more experienced, and competition is
more intense. Corporations that trim costs while providing great service will
prevail over those that can’t.
IT plays a major role in this competitive situation. As competition
becomes more intense, so does the pressure on IT to cut costs and boost
contribution. Now more than ever, large corporations are using their computing
assets as tools to pull ahead of the competition.
The January 13, 2003, issue of Time Magazine provides a great example
of how IT contributes in new ways. Executives at a big-box retailer were
considering dropping a particular brand of chicken from the shelves because
the sales volume was poor. Then the retailer’s data miners found that customers
who bought that brand of chicken also bought large amounts of other
merchandise. The chicken stayed.
Data mining, online transactions, and other new computing demands
require collecting and processing enormous amounts of data. Still, IT
Dept. of CSE -1- MESCE, Kuttippuram
departments are expected to keep up, even with budgets flat down. The bottom
line is that IT will be doing more with less.
Modular Computing can slash costs in IT infrastructure. It enables IT
groups to consolidate equipment, conserving expensive real estate. It offers the
opportunity to migrate applications from expensive proprietary platforms to
more, powerful, and manageable systems.
Winning through Modularity
As Janet Matsuda, SGI's director of Graphics Product Marketing, says:

"Modularity offers both savings and scalability so that customers don't waste
their money on what they don't want and can spend it on what they do want."
Debra Goldfarb, group vice president at analyst firm IDC, agrees:
"Modular computing empowers end users to build the kind of environment that
they need not only today but over time.
Doing More With Less
To keep up with computing demand while operating within restricted

budgets, IT must find ways to optimally use computing resources and reduce
people costs. There are many areas of improvement.
Cost of Over-Provisioning
As data centers have moved toward servers and away mainframes, IT

has found that some mainframe capabilities weren’t available on servers. A
glaring example is that smaller servers were unable to rapidly obtain more
processing power to accommodate peaks in computing demand.
As applications became more transactional, for example with customers
entering information via the Web, these peaks in computing demand became
more visible. During peak demand, customers saw their transactions slow

down. In situations where these transactions affect the bottom line, as when
customers enter purchases, prompt processing becomes vital to the business.
As the number of customers using Web services has increased, the
peaks in computing demand became more intense and more frequent.
Consequently, customers more frequently saw declines in performance.
Many data centers have ensured responsiveness to business
requirements by over-provisioning--proactively sizing computing resources in
anticipation of peak demand. In the world of traditional servers and legacy
mainframes, over-provisioning makes sense. In fact, many advisory firms once
recommended over-provisioning as a means of meeting peak demand.
In the ideal, an alternative to over-provisioning is for IT to obtain
additional resources and bring them online as they see demand increase. In
practice, even after obtaining the hardware, setting it up and configuring the
software can take weeks. Given the real-time nature of the changes in the
computing demand, deployment takes too long, so IT began relying on over-
provisioning.
Over-provisioning has its own disadvantages. It leaves costly resources
idle most of the time. CPU utilization in many data centers range from 15 to 20
percent for non-mainframe servers, chiefly because of inability to rapidly
reallocate unused resources during off-peak periods. Too much capital is tied
up in under-utilized resources.
To reduce capital costs, IT needs an alternative to over-provisioning—a
means of reallocating resources in minutes rather than in weeks to
accommodate peaks in demand for an application.
Cost of High Availability
As transaction processing applications have become more common,

more applications have been deemed mission-critical—capable of severely

affecting the business when they slow down or stop running altogether. Hence
the growing need for high availability.
However, high availability traditionally comes with a high price.
Redundant equipment is expensive to buy, maintain, and manage. Additional
software licenses, clustering software, and the professional services needed to
implement a traditional configuration for high availability can cost more than
the initial hardware. As a result, many IT groups continue to rely on expensive
mainframes or RISC servers that use costly switched redundant connections to
provide high availability.
Data centers need high availability, but they don’t need added expense.
They need high availability on equipments that cost less, eliminate the need for
extra software and professional services, and automate management.
Cost of Too Many People Doing Low-Level Tasks
Labor is the largest expense associated with IT. According to Giga

Information Group, labor represents 46% of IT budgets. Finding a way to move
administrators from low level tasks to more productive tasks would greatly
improve an IT department’s ROI.
Excessive Server Management
Consider a data center with 1000 application servers. Each class of

servers has its own management and provisioning process. To support these
servers, IT needs experts for each class of server. In addition to their unique
knowledge, these experts have many redundant skills. If server management
could be simplified, many of these experts could be shifted to tasks with higher
ROI than managing servers.

Excessive Deployment Expense
Installing and configuring hardware and software takes much more

administrator time than one would expect. According to Giga Information
Group, “Management of most of large collections of servers is a manually
intensive process. Highly automated management of servers, particularly the
deployment of applications and operating systems images, is more the
exception than the rule…” Moving an application from one server to another is
a delicate task requiring days for a skilled administrator.
Complex deployment also contributes to stranded resources.
Excessive Cable Management
A full rack of traditional servers can need over 200 cables to provide the
redundant connections necessary for high availability. Such large numbers of
cables complicate cable management. Giga Information Group says that, in
large data centers that have many reconfigurations, system administrators can
spend up to 25 percent of their time managing cables.
IT needs a means of spending less time on cables.
Cost of Stranded Resources
Closely related to over-provisioning is the dilemma that causes stranded

resources. For example, suppose that demand for an application crests, then
declines over a period of months. Three factors make data center management
reluctant to harvest computing resources associated with the application:
• The cost of the administrative time spent removing the resource from the
first application and reconfiguring it for the second.
• The risk of destabilizing the declining application.

• Removing some of the hardware used to process an application is

complex. Without extreme attention to detail, it’s possible to cause the
application to fail.
• The possibility that demand for the declining application may return after
the resources have reassigned. Should demand return, another costly and
risky harvest and reallocation would begin. The resulting stranded
resources remain unused, prematurely forcing IT groups to buy equipment
to deploy new applications and upgrade existing ones.

ENTERPRISE MODULAR COMPUTING

Many research firms have come to the conclusion that enterprise
computing must change. Gartner Group envisions policy-based computing.
Forrester Research envisions Organic IT. Giga Information Group envisions
modularity and virtualization.
Intel is taking a leadership position in this movement. Intel expects
Modular Computing to play a major role in enterprise computing.
A New Computing Paradigm
Modular Computing relies on a new paradigm for computers. Modular

Computing draws elements from pools of computing resources-processing,
storage, and networking. Together, these resources become virtual server, a
computer that can be assigned to run one or more applications. However,
unlike a traditional server, when demand for an application changes, virtual
servers can dynamically be repurposed, in just minutes.
A virtual server is logically integrated rather than physically integrated.
This distinction is essential for enabling potent management of the resources. A
control module, running Modular Computing software, manages the creation of
virtual servers and facilitates real-time allocation and deallocation of resources.
Processing Resource
Modular Computing’s processing resource is based on Intel Architecture

(I A) processors because of their superior price for performance across all
business and technical workloads. Intel server processors range from the 32-bit
Intel Xeon processor MP with strong transaction and I/O processing
capabilities, to the 64-bit Itanium processor family with high performance
floating point execution. Because of their robust capabilities and price for
performance, servers based on IA processors are very popular. Processing unit

refers to the smallest chunk of processing power that can be deployed from the
processing resource pool. For example, if the processing resource pool consists
of 4-way SMPs, a processing unit is a 4-way SMP.
Storage Resource
For Modular Computing, the storage resource should be a Storage Area

Network (SAN) or network-attached storage (NAS).Using SAN or NAS allows
a computing facility to concentrate the storage in one physical location and
obtain economies of scale. For example, mirroring, backup, and offsite
archiving processes are much more cost effective on a SAN or with NAS than
when applied to directly attached storage.
In addition, SAN or NAS allows the server’s personality (operating
system, application and data) to be defined completely by the content of
storage. The processing resource can be diskless and anonymous. This allows
any processing unit to be assigned to any application, facilitating the dynamic
nature of logical, rather than physical connections. If storage were directly
attached to the processing resource, the personality would follow the
processing resource, making it less suitable for use with a different application.
If a virtual server consumes its storage resource, the Modular Computing
software automatically allocates another unit of storage to the server.
Networking Resource
The networking resources should be a high-speed network accessed

through a high-speed switch. This should provide access to both the LAN and,
if needed, the internet. Just as storage resources are flexibly allocated to meet
computing demand, networking resources must be scalable so bandwidth does
not hinder performance.

Modular Computing Software
The Modular Computing software (MCS) is a vital part of Modular

Computing. It obtains resources resource pools and aggregates them into
virtual servers. It also provides an interface for administrators. Running on a
control module, it can oversee several virtual servers. The MCS also monitors
the health of each virtual server, allocates replacement, and then informs the
administrator about the status of the failed resource.
Fewer cables to manage
To facilitate expansion and maintenance, the processing and networking

resources, along with the control modules, could be mounted in the same rack
If this rack provides a high speed interconnect, it can reduce the number of
cables from more than two hundred to a mere handful. Two cables from
redundant switches replace the NIC cables for all servers. All the virtual
servers access the storage resource through just two cables. And a forest of
KVM cables is eliminated by providing an administrator interface across the
network.


BENEFITS OF MODULAR COMPUTING

Modular Computing increases agility, while reducing equipment and
people costs.
Increased Agility
Changes in computing demand need no longer cause panic. The

Modular Computing software (MCS) can monitor the status of virtual servers
in real time. As demand for an application changes, the MCS can adjust the
number of virtual servers to match, in minutes instead of weeks. This real-time
load balancing prevents applications from slowing down for long periods. The
users of the applications don’t suffer lengthy response times associated with
overloaded servers.
Equipment failure no longer takes applications offline. When the MCS
detects a failure in the equipment allocated to a virtual server, the MCS
logically swaps out the failed equipment, replacing it with resources from the
pool within minutes. Applications keep running.
Because this failover capability is automatic and fast, it enables administrators
to extend failover coverage beyond mission-critical applications to all
applications running in the Modular Computing environment.
Suppose demand grows for many applications, threatening to regularly
consume all of one of the resource pools. Rather than purchasing an extensive,
traditional server, IT purchases only the resources needed (processing units,
storage units, or network capacity) and adds them to the resource pools. The
MCS takes care of deployment in minutes as demand fluctuates.
Reduced People Costs
With traditional, physically integrated servers, equipment failure often

means an administrator needs to visit the rack immediately to make
replacements. Each such visit is time consuming and costly. Rack visits
become rare with Modular Computing.
The Modular Computing software (MCS) acts automatically. It uses
parameters set by administrators to govern resource distribution. Once the
administrator has set the parameters, the software can balance loads or invoke
failover procedures without human intervention, in minutes.
In addition, because adding resources to a Modular Computing
environment is so easy, substantially less administrator time is spent on
configuration and setup.
Management, too, becomes easier. All applications running in a
Modular Computing environment are monitored by the Modular Computing
software. Compare this to a collection of disparate, physically integrated
servers, where each server class needs unique management tools. Reducing the
number of management tools means fewer specialized experts.
Consequently, IT management can move people from administrative
duties to activities with higher ROI, such as planning or application
development.
Reduced Equipment Costs
All applications running in a Modular Computing environment share the

same resource pools. In other words, the entire collection of virtual servers
draws load- balancing or failover resources from the same resource pools. In
contrast, with traditional computing, each mission-critical application needs
spare equipment standing by for failover or load balancing.
With Modular Computing, a little spare resource protects all
applications. Because less resource can do the job, utilization of resources is
higher.
A related benefit of Modular Computing is the absence of stranded
resources. The MCS harvests under-utilized resources automatically.

Modular Computing helps IT do more with less. By increasing utilization of
computing resources, Modular Computing holds down capital expenditures. By
freeing administrators from tasks such as load balancing and deployment of
hardware, it makes them available for other tasks, with higher ROI.

APPLICATIONS
The Egenera BladeFrame system

The Egenera BladeFrame system consists of Modular Computing
software, connections for SAN or NAS and IP networking, and as many as 24
virtual servers based on Intel processors.
The BladeFrame provides a pool of up to 96 Intel processors,
deployable entirely through software, with no physical intervention. The
system components are listed in the following table.
Components and Description

Processing Blade: 2-way or 4-way, diskless, symmetric multiprocessors
(SMP5) using Intel processors. Each virtual server uses one Processing Blade.
The BladeFrame system can contain as many as 24 Processing Blades.
Control Blade: This is the control module for the BladeFrame system. It runs
the Modular Computing software and provides security for the Processing
Blades. To ensure high availability, each BladeFrame system has two Control
Blades.
Switch Blade: This is the networking resource for the BladeFrame system. It
provides communication with the SAN or NAS and the IP network. To ensure
high availability, each BladeFrame system has two Switch Blades.
BladePlane: High-speed interconnect. Enables communication between
components within the BladeFrame system.
PAN Manager: Modular Computing software (MCS) to configure virtual
servers and govern failover and load balancing. Administrators can use the
browser-based interface or can write scripts to provide control through a
command- line interface.
The system resides in a 24x30x84-inch chassis containing a redundant
BladePlane, two Control Blades, two Switch Blades, and up to 24 Processing
Blades. The BladeFrame system is a processing resource for the data center.
The Processing Blades are diskless, accessing the data center’s storage area
network (SAN) or network attached storage (NAS) for storage resources,
software, and data.
Separating processing resource from storage lets the processing resource
remain anonymous—not permanently dedicated to any particular
application(s). Anonymity facilitates reallocating Processing Blades between
the processing resource pool and virtual servers. Egenera calls this diskless
architecture a Processing Area Network, or PAN, and the management
software is called PAN Manager.
This PAN architecture facilities use of processing resources. As demand
for a particular application declines, PAN Manager software reduces the
number of virtual servers assigned to that application, making their resources
available for other applications. PAN Manager shifts resources automatically,
in minutes. By rapidly distributing resources to where they are needed, PAN
architecture eliminates costly over-provisioning. Should a piece of equipment
fail, PAN Manager detects the failure, notifies the administrator, and allocates
a replacement resource, all within minutes.
The BladeFrame system greatly reduces cable count. With traditional
architecture, each single-processor server can require more than five cables,
without providing redundancy. With the BladeFrame, as many as 96 Intel
processors can be redundantly connected to the storage and IP networks with as
few as four cables. This huge reduction in cables saves many error-prone hours
during installation, while offering fewer failure points and increased density of
servers. By reducing cable count, the BladeFrame contributes to higher
reliability (because of fewer failure points), more efficient use of administrators
(by saving cabling time), and less stranded equipment (by simplifying
harvesting and redeployment).
Many benefits of the BladeFrame system derive from the Egenera PAN
Manager software, which provides a single control point for monitoring and

allocating both physical and logical resources. Using PAN Manager software,
administrators can rapidly adjust logical configurations to service changing
demand. Tasks that were once physical and required weeks are now
accomplished through software in minutes.
The hardware and software modules of the BladeFrame system work
together to provide automation and rapid, flexible deployment. The
BladeFrame system saves administrator time associated with cable
management and other deployment issues. It automates harvesting and
reassigning resources, while slashing the cost of high availability.
NUMAflex by SGI
SGI (NYSE: SGI), known worldwide for providing a broad range of

high-performance computing and advanced graphics solutions, today
announced a technology that promises to help break the "digital ceiling"--the
performance limits that block progress in the rapidly evolving digital economy
and crucial efforts in medicine, science, manufacturing and media. The
modular, brick-style technology--called NUMAflexTM-also stands to
revolutionize the way people buy high-performance computers, allowing them
to expand and upgrade only the elements they need for their systems or add
new technologies as they become available. Traditionally, users have had to
buy expensive "one size fits all" systems that either were too much for their
needs or became obsolete quickly and had to be replaced--a costly and
cumbersome process.
"This truly is a milestone for the industry and for SGI," said Bob
Bishop, chairman and CEO, SGI. "Not only does this new technology stand to
change the way advanced computer systems are built and used, but its flexible,
cost-effective design means that more complex problems than ever before can
have access to the power of supercomputers."

The first SGI® products to utilize NUMAflex technology--the SGI®
Origin® 3000 series of servers and the SGI® Onyx® 3000 series of
visualization systems-are available immediately. A large number of orders
have been placed by notable clients such as the U.S. Army Engineering
Research Development Center and NASA/Ames Research Center. These
companies have needs for solving such demanding problems such as financial
analytics, crash-test simulation and aircraft design. In addition, Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc. has selected the SGI Origin 3400 as the broadband server
for a next-generation entertainment demonstration at SIGGRAPH 2000.
About the Technology
With NUMAflex technology, each drawer-like module in a system has a

specific function and can be linked, through the patented SGI high-speed
system interconnect, to many other bricks of varying types to create a fully
customized configuration. The same bricks, depending on their number or
configuration, can be used for a continually expanding range of high-
performance computing needs: C-brick (CPU module), P-brick (PCI
expansion), D-brick (disk storage), R-brick (system/memory interconnect), I-
brick (base I/O module), X-brick (XIO expansion) and G-brick
(InfiniteReality® graphics). New brick types will be added to the NUMAflex
modular offering for specialized configurations (e.g., broadband data
streaming) and as new technologies, such as PCI-X and Infiniband, enter the
market. The systems can also be deployed in clusters or as large shared-
memory systems, depending on users' needs.
Without this modular approach, conventional high-performance systems
often need to be replaced as often as once a year to keep up with changing
needs, new technology or competitive pressures--at a cost potentially in the
millions of dollars for each replacement. This daunting prospect can limit the

progress of research and development and can hold industries and scientific
pursuits back.
"This technology represents a real revolution in thinking," said Jan
Silverman, vice president, Advanced Systems Marketing, SGI. "It's analogous
to when people switched from all-in-one stereo systems at home to buying
components for a home-based theater. Before, you had to throw out the whole
stereo because 8-track died; now you just add the DVD."
Executing on SGI's Corporate Strategy
From its inception, SGI has accepted the challenge of the technical and
creative user communities, working to provide them with the most advanced
computational tools. The new SGI® 3000 family is a bold and dynamic
example of the company's promise to serve these users with industry-leading,
dependable products and services that are second to none for keeping them
ahead of the technology curve and ahead of the competition.
"SGI's customers--technical and creative computer users-are continually
demanding new products and solutions to help them reach new heights in their
own work," said Bishop. "NUMAflex modular computing is just the latest
success in our effort to meet the needs of these customers and to help them--
and SGI--stay ahead of the competition."
The new family of SGI® Origin® 3000 series servers and SGI® Onyx®
3000 series graphics systems makes real the long-held dream of truly modular
computing. Now, technical and creative computer users can have the same
modularity, freedom of choice, and ease of upgrade that people have long
benefited from in assembling and enhancing their home-entertainment centers.
In unprecedented fashion, SGI delivers on the promise of superior
performance, custom configuration, resiliency, and investment protection.
As Ben Passarelli, SGI's director of Server Product Marketing, says,
"With modular computing, customers can buy precisely what they need, when

they need it, with the confidence that they will be able to add the late-breaking
technologies of the future to what they already have."
A Superior Architecture
The newly announced SGI® 3000 family of systems marks the return of
the company to its time-honored leadership position in the realm of technical
and creative computing. The basis for the 3000 family is NUMAflexTM
technology, SGI's innovative and flexible use of a superior supercomputer
architecture.
As an architecture for high-performance multiprocessor computers,
SGI® NUMA (nonuniform memory access) exceeds the capabilities of the
SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) architecture used in previous generations of
supercomputers. SGI NUMA makes it possible for systems to increase shared
memory as needed to meet the demands of CPU-to-memory bandwidth
whenever additional processors are added to a configuration. Growing out of a
joint project with Stanford University that began more than 10 years ago, SGI
NUMA gives technical and creative users superior scalability and performance.
SGI is the only computer manufacturer capable of offering third-generation
NUMA architecture, leveraging the company's long expertise in leading-edge
computing.
NUMAflex technology takes advantage of the architecture through
modular bricks that add specialized capacities in graphics, central processing,
storage, PCI expansion, or I/O capacity. Even the internal interconnect is
modular, so that large installations can be built from small ones, one brick at a
time.
Winning through Modularity

NUMAflex technology gives technical and creative customers choices

and growth paths never before available. As Janet Matsuda, SGI's director of
Graphics Product Marketing, says: "Modularity offers both savings and
scalability so that customers don't waste their money on what they don't want
and can spend it on what they do want."
Debra Goldfarb, group vice president at analyst firm IDC, agrees:
"Modular computing empowers end users to build the kind of environment that
they need not only today but over time. SGI, with this product, is really ahead
of the curve in the market. We are seeing the [rest of the] industry absolutely
trying to catch up" with SGI.
In addition, SGI Origin 3000 servers and SGI Onyx 3000 visualization
systems reflect a return to SGI's core competencies.
"It is very exciting for us to see that SGI is once again really becoming
true to the mission it had years ago, that of leading the industry in technical
computing, " says Goldfarb. "This company has really hit it this time and [we]
believe this is really the right technology at the right point in time."
The Power of Visualization
Of course visualization, along with data handling and scalable

architecture, has always been one of SGI's three main core competencies. The
new SGI Onyx 3000 series, which utilizes next-generation InfiniteReality3TM
graphics, will be able to aid users in what Matsuda calls "their need to
understand." Says Matsuda, "You can get powerful visualization with powerful
computing, because your eyes are the widest channel to the brain. And
sometimes you need to give people experiences you don't want them to have in
real life."
A unique feature of InfiniteReality3 is its ability to perform visual
serving, delivering powerful graphics capabilities over a network as needed.

The new SGI Onyx 3000 series systems are also optimized for real-time
simulation, such as in planetariums, Reality Center® facilities, digital media
and geospatial imaging.
A final component of SGI's renewed focus on its customers and what
Passarelli calls "working to our strengths" is SGI's continuing strong
commitment to both MIPS® and IRIX®, which is evidenced by unprecedented
customer demand for the new product line. While SGI sees long-term strategic
value in the company's involvement with the Open Source community, "We
remain fanatically committed to helping our customers solve their problems in
the here and now. For customers on the leading edge, if you give them more
capabilities, more compute power, and greater visualization, they can do
amazing things."

REMARKS FROM EXPERTS
Call it grid computing. Or modular computing. Or policy-based

computing or utility computing. Intel, which is opting for the modular
designation, is preaching distribution of processing power to boost
performance and reliability. Modular computing represents a new paradigm
that requires advances in both software and hardware, according to Intel.
"There (are) a lot of people that associate modular computing (with) blades and
blade form factors. It's important to know this is far more than form factors and
far more than blades," said Abbi Talwalkar, vice president of the Intel platform
products group, in Hillsboro, Ore., during a presentation at the Intel Developer
Forum.
Modular computing, the joining of multiple computing resources, is an
answer for exponential data growth, application and server sprawl, and dis-
aggregation of storage, according to Intel. The concept also is critical in today's
tough economic times, with IT cutbacks, Talwalkar said. Modular computing is
characterized by a growth in hardware clustering and distributed computing
along with software developments such as the deployment of application
servers and the use of Web services for intersystem communication, he said.
"It's really advances in system management and clustering technology that's
going to drive much of the adoption here," Talwalkar said. Clustering might
displace large symmetric multiprocessing systems over time, he said.
Automation, enabling for dynamic allocation of resources, is probably the
"heart" of modular computing, according to Talwalkar. Automation
developments are needed such as self-healing systems, failover, and dynamic
performance optimization, he said.
Benefits of modular computing include maximization, efficiency,
Internet reliability, and seamless and simplified management, according to the
company. For example, modular computing will maximize use of a server that

might have 40 percent of its capacity not being used, Talwalkar said. "Software
is going to drive the success of modular computing 100 percent," Talwalker
stressed.
One IDF attendee, however, criticized Intel for recently backing away
from plans to produce InfiniBand-based hardware. InfiniBand, said Anil
Vasudeva, president and CEO of research firm Imex Research, of San Jose, is
key to making blade servers function together. InfiniBand is a next-generation
switched-fabric I/O technology. "Intel seems to have done a big boo boo job on
that," Vasudeva said. Talwalkar said that given current economics, there were
"some very difficult decisions to make at Intel in terms of productizing
components."

CONCLUSION
Stretching the IT Dollar
Modular Computing replaces the physical connections between

computing resources with logical connections. Because the connections are
logical Modular Computing software can monitor and control how virtual
servers use resources.
This software-based monitoring and controlling enables automated
resource management, where the software continuously redistributes resources
according to parameters provided by an administrator. This, along with
simplified server management and reduced cable count, means large
collections of servers need fewer administrators.
Modular Computing uses small amounts of spare resource to provide
failover and load balancing for all applications running in the Modular
Computing environment. This eliminates stranded resources, boosts resource
utilization, and holds down capital expense.
Because Modular Computing is built on IA processors, it offers better
price for performance and ensures a broader choice of software vendors and
software. A larger selection of software can speed application development,
and competition between software vendors can hold down development costs.
Modular Computing is a concept for the future, hut it is available now,
in products shipping today. It is already proving itself by saving money for IT.

REFERENCES
• Forrester Research, Inc., The New Computing Utility.

• Goldman Sachs, IT Spending Survey.
• Giga Information Group, Inc., The Future of the Data Center-Modularity
and Virtualization.
• Gartner, Inc., Budgeting for IT-Average Spending Report.
• www.pcmag.com
• www.pcquest.com
• www.itpapers.com

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. DOING MORE WITH LESS
3. ENTERPRISE MODULAR COMPUTING
4. BENEFITS OF MODULAR COMPUTING
5. APPLICATIONS
• THE EGENERA BLADEFRAME SYSTEM
• NUMAFLEX BY SGI
6. CONCLUSION
7. REFERENCES

SYNOPSIS
The modular, brick-style technology stands to revolutionize the way

people buy high-performance computers, allowing them to expand and upgrade
only the elements they need for their systems or add new technologies as they
become available. Traditionally, users have had to buy expensive "one size fits
all" systems that either were too much for their needs or became obsolete
quickly and had to be replaced--a costly and cumbersome process.
Without this modular approach, conventional high-performance systems
often need to be replaced as often as once a year to keep up with changing
needs, new technology or competitive pressures--at a cost potentially in the
millions of dollars for each replacement. This daunting prospect can limit the
progress of research and development and can hold industries and scientific
pursuits back.
Now, technical and creative computer users can have the same
modularity, freedom of choice, and ease of upgrade that people have long
benefited from in assembling and enhancing their home-entertainment centers

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I express my sincere thanks to Prof. M.N Agnisarman Namboothiri

(Head of the Department, Computer Science and Engineering, MESCE),
Mr. Sminesh (Staff incharge) for their kind co-operation for presenting the
seminar.
I also extend my sincere thanks to all other members of the faculty of

Computer Science and Engineering Department and my friends for their co-
operation and encouragement.
EVANGELIN NITHYA

Modular Computing

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Modular Computing

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Seminar Report’03 Modular Computing

Winning through Modularity

As Janet Matsuda, SGI's director of Graphics Product Marketing, says:

Doing More With Less

To keep up with computing demand while operating within restricted

As data centers have moved toward servers and away mainframes, IT

Dept. of CSE -2- MESCE, Kuttippuram

Cost of High Availability

As transaction processing applications have become more common,

Dept. of CSE -3- MESCE, Kuttippuram

Cost of Too Many People Doing Low-Level Tasks

Labor is the largest expense associated with IT. According to Giga

Excessive Server Management

Consider a data center with 1000 application servers. Each class of

Dept. of CSE -4- MESCE, Kuttippuram

Excessive Deployment Expense

Installing and configuring hardware and software takes much more

Excessive Cable Management

Cost of Stranded Resources

Closely related to over-provisioning is the dilemma that causes stranded

Dept. of CSE -5- MESCE, Kuttippuram

• Removing some of the hardware used to process an application is

Dept. of CSE -6- MESCE, Kuttippuram

ENTERPRISE MODULAR COMPUTING

A New Computing Paradigm

Modular Computing relies on a new paradigm for computers. Modular

Modular Computing’s processing resource is based on Intel Architecture

Dept. of CSE -7- MESCE, Kuttippuram

For Modular Computing, the storage resource should be a Storage Area

The networking resources should be a high-speed network accessed

Dept. of CSE -8- MESCE, Kuttippuram

Modular Computing Software

The Modular Computing software (MCS) is a vital part of Modular

Fewer cables to manage

To facilitate expansion and maintenance, the processing and networking

Dept. of CSE -9- MESCE, Kuttippuram

Dept. of CSE -10- MESCE, Kuttippuram

BENEFITS OF MODULAR COMPUTING

Changes in computing demand need no longer cause panic. The

Reduced People Costs

With traditional, physically integrated servers, equipment failure often

Reduced Equipment Costs

All applications running in a Modular Computing environment share the

Dept. of CSE -12- MESCE, Kuttippuram

Dept. of CSE -13- MESCE, Kuttippuram

The Egenera BladeFrame system

Components and Description

Dept. of CSE -15- MESCE, Kuttippuram

SGI (NYSE: SGI), known worldwide for providing a broad range of

Dept. of CSE -16- MESCE, Kuttippuram

About the Technology

With NUMAflex technology, each drawer-like module in a system has a

Dept. of CSE -17- MESCE, Kuttippuram

Executing on SGI's Corporate Strategy

Dept. of CSE -18- MESCE, Kuttippuram

Winning through Modularity

NUMAflex technology gives technical and creative customers choices

The Power of Visualization

Of course visualization, along with data handling and scalable

Dept. of CSE -20- MESCE, Kuttippuram

Dept. of CSE -21- MESCE, Kuttippuram

REMARKS FROM EXPERTS

Call it grid computing. Or modular computing. Or policy-based