Emirates Computers and SGI technology breaking down barriers in engineering simulation at ADCO

Designed and delivered by SGI and Emirates Computers, the award winning SGI Altix 4700 solution features a revolutionary shared memory technology and promises to offer unique benefits in the field of reservoir simulation.

A long and arduous evaluation process spearheaded by ADCO's Petroleum Development Division IS/IT team recognized the unique technical and support benefits of the selected solution. When asked why ADCO chose the Altix, Masoud Al-Mughairy, Team Leader (IS/IT) at ADCO had the following statement, "Judging on the ratio of price versus performance, no other vendors were able to compete with the SGI figures. We were also attracted by the long history of SGI in technical computing, and the revolutionary technology that was being proposed. Taken as a package our desire for the solution was strong especially when this was backed with solid service standards and warranty conditions from the local supplier."

ADCOs' decision has been validated. The system is composed of 384 processor cores, 768 GB dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) and has 10.8 TB of storage capacity. The super cluster utilizes the all new Dual Core Intel Itanium Montecito. ADCO will eventually have several field teams working on the system, inputting datasets for oil reservoirs to run compositional simulations using Schlumberger "Eclipse" or other simulation applications. These important simulations can take days to complete and are the basis for full-field development planning. Initial tests show the speed to be 4 times faster than when run on the previous hardware.

On the eve of full operation the project so far has been a success. "We are very excited about our new acquisition," enthused Mr. Al-Mughairy. "We found Emirates Computers to be a committed partner as always, their installation team together with SGI's hardware specialists went well beyond the call of duty to ensure that the implementation was as smooth as possible."

In mid October SGI announced a new lean line of products that like the Altix are all open and based on non proprietary technology. Their philosophy is to deliver a complete range of high-performance server and storage solutions to enable its' customers to overcome the challenges of data-intensive workflows and accelerate breakthrough discoveries, innovation and information transformation.

The project has also been a landmark for Emirates Computers, according to their manager of technical computing Tony Abou Jawad. "Emirates computers have been actively servicing the UAE oil and gas industry since 1978 and see this project as a major milestone. You might have thought providing the biggest single image Super Computer in the Middle East was challenging, however SGI and Emirates Computers engineers managed to get the machine operational in less than 48 hours. This makes providing ADCO with this end result all the more satisfying."