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New Pooch Supports Launching Universal Applications on Clusters Running Mac OS X --> Click for Further Details

 

Huntington Beach, CA, USA - May 16, 2006 - The Pooch family goes Universal! Dauger Research, Inc., announces version 1.7 of Pooch (Parallel OperatiOn and Control Heuristic application) and Pooch Pro clustering software. Pooch technology becomes the first and only clustering solution to launch Universal Applications in parallel. While still retaining full backwards compatibility, Pooch also introduces new features, including a new Job file format, new head-node and job retrieval features to take advantage of clusters configured Linux-style, more flexible multiprocessing support, and enhancements to its AppleScript interface. Combining the best of cluster and grid computing, Pooch technology is the only solution that merges a modern graphical user interface with supercomputer-compatible parallel computing.

"The award-winning Pooch family provides the easiest, most reliable, and most powerful path to 'ad hoc' clustering", said Dr. Dean Dauger, President of Dauger Research, Inc. "In true Macintosh style, we are proud to announce that Pooch and Pooch Pro are Universal and our innovative technology is the first to support Universal Clustering, bringing the best and most flexible user experience to supercomputer-compatible clusters."

"Mac OS X has proven itself as a strong platform for scientific clustering," said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "The combination of Mac OS X and Pooch 1.7 will help scientific researchers take advantage of the power of the Intel-based Macs for their clustering solutions."

Winner of IEEE Cluster's "most innovative" award, Pooch software combines powerful, numerically-intensive parallel-computing clusters with the famed ease-of-use of the Macintosh. Version 1.7 introduces a new Job file format so users can easily save and reload jobs, with OS X-compliant navigation sheets, and commonly used file and node combinations to make their cluster usage workflow more efficient and productive. These file types are searchable via Spotlight on OS X "Tiger". The new Pooch also explicitly supports clusters configured with a head node protecting compute nodes as a firewall and NAT router in a Linux-style network topology. Configured for head node use, Pooch can launch jobs onto such a cluster, check its status, and retrieve jobs via the head node. The new version also enhances its multiprocessing support by enabling users to customize the "virtual node" count for any individual node, including Intel Core's. Finally, the new Pooch, itself a Universal Application, debuts support for launching parallelized Universal Applications onto a cluster, the first and only clustering solution to do so.

Enriching the user experience of supercomputer-compatible cluster computing, the Pooch family builds on productivity enhancements, including "playlist"-like node lists and network tools, a Grid job type for distributed launching of many single-processor executables with point and click. Pooch supports all execution environments (Carbon, Cocoa, Mach-O, Classic, Unix script, AppleScript, and now Universal) available on current Apple hardware and supports five distinct implementations of the Message-Passing Interface (MPI) industry standard. Pooch leverages major Tiger technologies, including Dashboard where it reports the status of the cluster's job activity in an aesthetically pleasing environment and Bonjour for automatic node configuration and discovery.  

The new Dauger Research Vault presents eight tutorials extensively describing how to develop parallel applications and algorithms. Users can access tutorials outlining the different types of parallel computing, detailed MPI information, and descriptions, with example code in Fortran and C, of the basics of writing parallel code. Visitors to the new web site can download GUI and command-line installers containing a trial Pooch, updated sample parallel applications and source code, a Cluster Software Development Kit, and full documentation. Dauger Research makes it easier than ever to write, develop, and run your parallel code today.

Dauger Research makes Pooch and Pooch Pro v1.7 available today. Updates are shipping to Pooch users whose subscriptions are active.

Pooch v1.7 is available for US$175 for the first compute node then US$125 for each node thereafter. Pooch Pro v1.7 is available for US$200 for the first compute node then US$150 for each node thereafter. Users may order Pooch and other software using the forms on our web site or online through the Dauger Research Store. See the web site for special academic pricing.

Pooch requires networked Macintoshes and/or Xserves running Mac OS 9 with CarbonLib 1.2 or later, Mac OS X 10.2 or later, and/or Mac OS X Server 10.2 or later with 4 MB of available RAM and 2 MB of disk space. Pooch Pro requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later, and/or Mac OS X Server 10.2 or later.

Profiled and honored recently on national television by the William Shatner-hosted "Keeping America Strong" show, Dauger Research, Inc. makes high-performance computation and visualization easy to use and accessible to users. Our award-winning team, to better accomplish our scientific goals, reinvented the cluster computer in 1998, pioneering easy-to-use, high-performance clusters. Dauger Research, Inc., is committed to bridging the divides between the scientifically and technically complex and the mainstream.  


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