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Press Release
Rackable
Systems And The BioTeam Partner To Deliver The First Linux Bioinformatics
Cluster With iNquiry Solution
- Rapid Deployment of Scalable Linux Clusters
Starting At Under $25K -
SAN JOSE, CALIF., August 5, 2003 — Rackable Systems, Inc.,
(http://www.rackable.com) a leading
provider of large scale, rack-mount server and storage solutions, announced
today that the company has signed an agreement with The BioTeam, a
leading bio-IT consulting firm based in Boston, Mass. The strategic
agreement continues a long-term relationship between the two companies
to provide turnkey cluster server solutions to the life sciences market.
As a result of the alliance, Rackable Systems will bundle iNquiry,
The BioTeam's award winning bioinformatics software tools suite, on
its optimized compute server platform.
The combined solution of Rackable Systems compute servers and The BioTeam's
iNquiry solution solves two major problems faced by the bioinformatics
industry: cluster server configuration and access to bioinformatics
applications. The iNquiry product, initially configured to run on the
Apple platform, received an Apple Design Award at Apple's Worldwide
Developers Conference last month. Rackable Systems will be the first
large-scale compute server provider to deliver iNquiry on the Linux
operating system platform.
Rackable Systems' high performance Linux servers are pre-configured
and application-optimized to deliver out-of-the-box, ready-to-go performance.
Based on a modular, open architecture approach, Rackable Systems compute
servers provide tremendous configuration flexibility. The company has
the capability to deliver customizable solutions for small clusters
of five nodes, up to several thousand-node deployments.
"What used to take 2-3 man months, now comes delivered in a fully
configured and deployed Linux cluster," said Michael Athanas,
Ph.D., and Principal Scientist at The BioTeam. "Together, The
BioTeam and Rackable have eliminated the barriers to adopting cluster
solutions, while maintaining a scalable architecture that is cost efficient.
What previously cost several hundred thousand dollars or more, can
now be achieved at an entry price point of just $25K."
"Rackable Systems and The BioTeam have developed a breadth of
expertise through the successful completion of several large deployments
to date, including Biogen and Pfizer," said Tom Barton, President
and CEO of Rackable Systems. "We are thrilled that The BioTeam
has selected Rackable Systems to be the cluster server provider of
choice to launch iNquiry on the Linux platform, further validating
our solutions for the bioinformatics market."
The BioTeam's iNquiry is a comprehensive software package that includes
over 200 bioinformatics applications that are made accessible via a
consistent web interface. This makes it an ideal solution for scientists,
and now for non-Unix users in the life sciences market, by making it
feasible for them to harness the power of scalable cluster computing.
The package includes some of the most commonly used tools like BLAST,
HMMer and Emboss suite, accessible through a simple Web interface portal.
The Rackable and BioTeam solution dramatically reduces the time it
takes to install, configure and initiate a working bioinformatics cluster.
"We're very excited about the opportunity to extend our relationship
with Rackable to deliver out-of-the-box cluster solutions," said
Stan Gloss, Managing Director, and Founding Partner of The BioTeam. "The
BioTeam has installed many Rackable Systems servers to date and we
are extremely pleased with the quality, reliability and serviceability
of their server offerings."
Recently, Rackable Systems was ranked #1 in lowest Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO) in a head-to-head three-year life-cycle cluster server study
against Tier 1 vendors IBM, HP and Dell (http://www.rackable.com/why/tellme_tco_landing.htm).
Rackable Systems offers a complete line of compute server and storage
products including the C1000, C2000, C2000V and C2004 Compute Server
Series (http://www.rackable.com/products/compute.htm),
and the S3009, S3012, and S3116 Storage Server Series (http://www.rackable.com/products/storage.htm),
each designed to cost-effectively deliver the highest levels of quality
and performance. Rackable Systems' server products have key competitive
advantages in the areas of CPU density, thermal management, power consumption
and serviceability.
Availability, Pricing and Support
The Rackable powered iNquiry cluster will be launched at the LinuxWorld
Conference & Expo, in San Francisco, CA on August 4 -7, 2003. Rackable
and The BioTeam will jointly support the life sciences solution, with
Rackable supporting the hardware and Linux OS, and The BioTeam supporting
the iNquiry software tools. Pricing for iNquiry starts at $5K for a
non-commercial license, up to $15K for commercial use. Rackable clusters
with iNquiry are available now.
ABOUT THE BIOTEAM
The BioTeam is a consulting collective dedicated to delivering vendor-neutral
informatics solutions to the life science industry. The BioTeam provides
complete beginning-to-end life science informatics and Bio-IT solutions
and has proven success at bridging the Science-IT gap.
For more information: visit (http://www.bioteam.net/)
or call (978) 304-1222.
ABOUT RACKABLE SYSTEMS
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Jose, California, Rackable
Systems leads the industry in large-scale data center deployment solutions.
Through innovative design, patented technology and commitment to customer
service, the company offers a broad line of server products that can
be rapidly deployed in data centers and other demanding IT environments.
Serving leading-edge technology companies, universities and research & development
organizations, Rackable Systems' customers include Biogen, Cold Springs
Harbor Laboratories, Deutsche Bank, Electronic Arts, Lawrence Livermore
Labs, nVidia, SLAC, Sony America, Tellme, Webex and Yahoo!.
To learn more about Rackable Systems, visit (http://www.rackable.com),
call 408-240-8300 or write to info@rackable.com.
Rackable Systems is a registered trademark
of Rackable Systems®, Inc. All other trademarks are property
of their respective holders.