[Info-vax] HPE buys Cray

[Kerry Main]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kerry Main <kemain.nospam at gmail.com>
> Sent: May 18, 2019 8:03 AM
> To: 'comp.os.vms to email gateway' <info-vax at rbnsn.com>
> Subject: RE: [Info-vax] HPE buys Cray
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Info-vax <info-vax-bounces at rbnsn.com> On Behalf Of Arne Vajhøj
> > via Info-vax
> > Sent: May 17, 2019 7:23 PM
> > To: info-vax at rbnsn.com
> > Cc: Arne Vajhøj <arne at vajhoej.dk>
> > Subject: Re: [Info-vax] HPE buys Cray
> >
> > On 5/17/2019 2:34 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> > > Not really OpenVMS related, but I just saw that HPE will buy Cray...
> > >
> > > https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3076006/hpe-buys-cray
> > > https://www.cnet.com/news/hpe-to-acquire-supercomputer-maker-
> cray-
> > for-
> > > 1-3b/
> > > https://www.zdnet.com/article/hpe-buys-supercomputer-company-
> cray-
> > for-
> > > 1-3-billion/
> >
> > I wonder - is this an indication that HPE is not looking top be
acquired?
> >
> > Maybe they realized that there are not many potential buyers, so now
> > they want to stay independent.
> >
> > Arne
> >
> 
> 
> Getting Cray for only $1.3B looks like fire sale, so perhaps Cray was
hurting
> financially?
> 
> Also, remember that HPE bought SGI a year or two ago, so HPE appears to be
> adopting a renewed focus on the super computer and high end data analysis
> and AI market.
> 
> HPE-Cray:
> <https://www.zdnet.com/article/hpe-buys-supercomputer-company-cray-
> for-1-3-b
> illion/>
> 
> HPE-SGI:
> <https://www.hpe.com/us/en/newsroom/press-release/2017/03/hewlett-
> packard-en
> terprise-completes-acquisition-of-sgi.html>
> 
> I was about to say "One company I am surprised that has not yet been
> purchased by one of the big players is Mellanox. They make most of the
very
> high speed Infiniband, RDMA and ethernet interconnects used by the big
> supercomputers."
> 
> <http://www.mellanox.com/page/ethernet_cards_overview> - check out
> 200GbE adapters
> "ConnectX-6 EN provides two ports of 200Gb/s for Ethernet connectivity,
> sub-800 ns latency and 215 million messages per second, enabling the
highest
> performance and most flexible solution for the most demanding data center
> applications."
> 
> Then I just discovered this on the Mellanox website:
> 
> March 11, 2019: NVIDIA to Acquire Mellanox for $6.9 Billion
> <https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-to-acquire-mellanox-for-6-9-
> billi
> on?nvid=nv-int-mxcn-78068>
> "The acquisition will unite two of the world’s leading companies in high
> performance computing (HPC). Together, NVIDIA’s computing platform and
> Mellanox’s interconnects power over 250 of the world’s TOP500
> supercomputers and have as customers every major cloud service provider
> and computer maker.
> 
> The data and compute intensity of modern workloads in AI, scientific
> computing and data analytics is growing exponentially and has put enormous
> performance demands on hyperscale and enterprise datacenters. While
> computing demand is surging, CPU performance advances are slowing as
> Moore’s law has ended. This has led to the adoption of accelerated
> computing with NVIDIA GPUs and Mellanox’s intelligent networking
> solutions."
> 
> Interesting times ...
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Kerry Main
> Kerry dot main at starkgaming dot com
> 

A more in depth analysis of HPE and supercomputers:

May 17, 2019: With Cray Deal, HPE Finally Enters The HPC Big Leagues
<https://www.nextplatform.com/2019/05/17/with-cray-deal-hpe-finally-enters-t
he-hpc-big-leagues/>
"In a somewhat surprising development, HPE is shelling out $1.3 billion, net
of Cray’s existing cash pile, to buy the supercomputer company just as Cray
is on track to build three of the biggest systems the world has ever seen –
all at the same time – and as its next generation “Shasta” systems and their
integrated “Slingshot” interconnect gave Cray much broader applicability in
the market than it has ever enjoyed."


Regards,

Kerry Main
Kerry dot main at starkgaming dot com