As the public cloud IaaS market continues to evolve, providers are expected to add increased functionality, including high performance computing to their offerings, which is exactly what SoftLayer did today.
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SoftLayer, which is an IaaS provider, introduced a series of new cloud-based high performance compute (HPC) offerings using the latest graphics processors units (GPUs) to power the service. Users are seeking HPC in cloud-based offerings, the company says, to be used for a variety of applications ranging from data mining, numerical analysis, supporting interactive games or applications or hosting 3D content.
In response, the company has introduced a new compute power offering that's powered by a dual-processor Intel E5-2600, or Sandy Bridge servers, supporting one or two Nvidia Tesla M2090 GPUs. It's priced starting at $879 per month as an entry level, which includes 16 GB of RAM and 500 GB of storage.
While Amazon Web Services is the dominant IaaS provider in the market, Philbert Shih, an analyst with Structure Research, says more providers will attempt to differentiate themselves with new offerings, such as SoftLayer's.
"HPC options are just starting to come into vogue as infrastructure requirements continue to grow," says Shih. "SoftLayer is getting on the ground early in order to build a reputation for this capability and garner market share." The company's offering, combined with management tools it offers, puts SoftLayer in a "strong point of differentiation," Shih says.
Network World staff writer Brandon Butler covers cloud computing and social media. He can be reached at BButler@nww.com and found on Twitter at @BButlerNWW.