EDA_appbrief

Sun x64 Systems for EDA Harnessing and Harvesting Compute Power for Electronic Design Automation • Modular servers and workstations designed for high performance, scalability, and 64-bit migration • Performance and large-memory capacity for simulations with large data sets, and higher compute density for consolidation of slower 32-bit systems • High-speed graphics for IC, FPGA, and PCB layout and design Sun x64 Systems with AMD Opteron™ processors • Sun Fire™ X2100, X2200, X4100, X4200, X4500, and X4600 rack-mount servers • The Sun Blade™ 8000 modular system • The Sun Grid Rack System for HPC • Sun Ultra™ 20 and 40 workstations High performance computing (HPC) from Sun • Sun’s comprehensive strategy to assess customer needs, architect scalable infrastructure, and provide flexible, cost-effective HPC architecture suited to the specific environment < Real benefits for designers “Design engineers need reliable high performance workstations, and Sun’s new AMD Opteron™ based Ultra 20 M2 workstation is ideally suited for the demanding requirements of Electronic Design Automation.” — Rich Monahan, Director, IT Engineering Services, Mentor Grahics Using better electronics... to build better electronics The electronic design automation (EDA) marketplace was one of the first to capitalize on the horizontal scalability of multiple servers powered by grid computing solutions. In particular, the advent of the Linux operating system on affordable x86 platforms has contributed greatly to the simulation and verification of modern electronic designs. Now, increasingly complex designs along with sprawling server farms are driving the need for improved performance, capacity and resource management, without arbitrary architectural limitations. Electronics designers today are asking more from their tools and designs, leveraging the steady gains in available transistors afforded by Moore's Law to build in new levels of integration, functionality, and performance. Like most organizations, electronic design firms are also demanding more from their infrastructure in order to compete and succeed. Increased design complexity has led to larger simulation and verification tasks with many jobs now requiring more memory capacity than existing 32-bit x86 systems can provide. Simulation times have increased as well, and designers need more scalability from their existing applications to keep design cycles manageable. Many organizations are also actively seeking a 64-bit migration path that doesn't force painful and abrupt choices in applications or infrastructure. At the same time, effective resource management tools are needed that organize computational resources, optimize the usage of high-value EDA tools, and simplify the management of hundreds or thousands of individual heterogeneous systems. 2 Solution Brief: Sun x64 Systems for EDA sun.com/x64 As an experienced system provider, customer, and leader in the EDA industry, Sun is ideally positioned to help address these challenges with a systemic application of technology and expertise. Sun's large electronic design teams are heavy users of EDA technology, fostering long-standing relationships with key vendors that help to ensure that most EDA tools are optimized for Sun platforms. Sun's strategic may ultimately be constrained to running a single large job due to this limitation. Adding more memory only leads to performance degradation, and additional processors would only sit idle on a memory-constrained 32-bit system. In contrast, Sun’s x64 (x86, 64-bit) systems with AMD Opteron processors can offer scalability and real benefit for 32-bit applica- system scalability helps enable greater compute density for environments with constrained power and cooling, and provides the opportunity to consolidate multiple smaller 32-bit servers onto fewer more powerful 64-bit servers. Best of all, this performance, scalability, and improved density doesn't require changes to 32-bit applications. Multi-threaded applications can also take advantage of having more available processor resources for enhanced performance. Figure 1 illustrates multi-processor benchmarks for the multi-threaded SmartSpice Analog Circuit simulator from Silvaco International, demonstrating considerable scalability from one to four AMD Opteron processors. 64-bit AMD Opteron Servers from Sun can run multiple large-memory applications in the same form factor alliance with AMD has yielded powerful AMD Opteron-based servers and workstations that offer industry-leading performance and capacity. Consistent with a solid history of providing binary-compatible 32-bit and 64-bit symmetric multi-processing (SMP) environments, these new systems offer a smooth migration path to 64-bit computing. With thousands of successful grids, clusters, and high performance computing (HPC) installations, Sun is also uniquely qualified to help deploy effective EDA infrastructure. tions. Beyond the impressive performance improvements provided by the AMD Opteron processor and system architecture, these systems eliminate 32-bit memory constraints. Coupled with Sun’s x64 systems using AMD Opteron processors, the 64-bit Solaris™ 10 Operating System (OS) or 64-bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux provide each 32-bit application with exclusive use of its own 32-bit (4 GB) memory space while the operating system occupies a separate virtual memory space. Unlike 32-bit systems, 1- or 2-socket Sun x64 systems running a 64-bit OS (such as Sun Fire X2100, X2200, X4100, and X4200 servers) can support two or more large-memory 32-bit jobs simultaneously with good performance. Dualcore AMD Opteron processors provide additional performance in the same footprint. At the same time, larger 4-socket Sun Blade X8400 server modules and 4- or 8- socket Sun Fire X4600 servers can run even more memoryintensive applications simultaneously. This Migrate to 64-bit computing when ready In contrast to processor designs that emulate 32-bit operation, Sun’s x64 systems with AMD Opteron processors provide native execution of 32-bit applications. This innovation is possible because the AMD64 instruction set architecture (ISA) extends the existing 32-bit x86 ISA. As a result, 32-bit applications perform well (often faster than on 32-bit platforms) and can coexist on the same system with 64-bit applications. Organizations can deploy Sun’s x64 systems with AMD Opteron processors now, while choosing 32-bit or 64-bit operating systems as their needs dictate. Sun supports a wide range of operating system choices, including the Solaris OS, Linux (both Red Hat and SuSE Linux), and Microsoft Windows. New levels of performance and productivity for 32-bit EDA applications Today, most EDA applications on the x86 architecture are 32-bit Linux applications. Unfortunately, as designs have grown complex, some data sets are pushing the installed memory limitations of both 32-bit x86 system architecture and 32-bit operating systems. On 32-bit systems, both the OS and the application share the same small (4 GB) memory space. This limitation can easily cause excessive memory paging and very poor performance when large-memory EDA applications contend with the operating system for memory resources. Even multi-processor 32-bit systems 64-bit AMD Opteron (4 x 2.4 GHz CPU) 64-bit AMD Opteron (2 x 2.4 GHz CPU) 64-bit AMD Opteron (1 x 2.4 Ghz CPU) 6 Minutes, 20 seconds 10 Minutes 15 Minutes, 6 seconds 36 Minutes, 3 seconds 32-bit Intel Pentium 4 (1 x 2.0 Ghz CPU) SmartSpice Benchmark Test Results (PLL) Figure 1: 64-bit AMD Opteron performance advantage and scalability for multi-threaded applications. Data courtesy Silvaco International 3 Solution Brief: Sun x64 Systems for EDA sun.com/x64 8.0 GB/sec DRAM Coherent HyperTransport 8.0 GB/sec maximized user productivity. Sun HPC soluDRAM tions also help optimize the usage of large collections of high-value EDA applications. Ultimately, Sun HPC solutions help drive inno- 8.0 GB/sec 8.0 GB/sec HyperTransport vation, providing the resources to get highquality electronic products to market more quickly while reducing costs and providing a I/O I/O rapid return on investment. The benefits of this approach include: • Increased performance, scalability, and agility • Reduced risk and time to deployment • Eco-responsibility and greater density • A scalable and open architecture Figure 2: HyperTransport technology yields high throughput for processors, memory, and I/O Sun and AMD: partnering for performance Going well beyond typical chip sourcing agreements, the strategic alliance between Sun and AMD is centered on protecting customer investments in x86/x64 systems. Joint technology development agreements in both hardware and software include optimizing the Solaris OS, Linux, and Sun Java™ technology for the AMD Opteron processor, as well as collaborating on ground-breaking HyperTransport technology. Both Sun and AMD understand that careful architecture and balanced system design are essential for real-world performance, and Sun AMD Opteron systems leverage key AMD Opteron processor technology: • The 64-bit AMD Opteron processor provides compatibility by supporting 32-bit x86 instructions with 64-bit extensions, facilitating large-memory applications and larger system memory capacity. • An integrated DDR DRAM memory controller on each AMD Opteron processor provides lower memory latency for shorter run-time, scaling both available memory and memory bandwidth with the number of processors. • Innovative point-to-point HyperTransport technology eliminates the I/O bottlenecks found in today's front-side bus (FSB) architectures, increasing overall system performance since I/O and memory don't compete for bandwidth (Figure 2). These architectural strengths are already yielding substantial performance benefits along with record setting results on standard benchmarks (see www.sun.com/x64/benchmarks). Along with a complete and innovative family of Sun solutions for high performance computing (HPC) Modern EDA environments have become extremely complex to manage and use, with increasing numbers of heterogeneous systems in myriad configurations. Most EDA professionals now understand that a fast (or inexpensive) platform alone is no longer sufficient. To succeed, electronic design firms must be able to focus resources rapidly and accurately in an environment of multiple projects with overlapping schedules. EDA infrastructure must be able to adapt around dynamic conditions and support constantly changing priorities. Sun HPC solutions can simplify infrastructure by allowing disparate systems to be pooled and managed as a common computing resource. In particular, EDA users profit from optimized system utilization and throughput along with servers (Figure 3), Sun provides the modular infrastructure that organizations need to rapidly deploy more competitive solutions: • Industry-leading x64 rack-mount servers, including the Sun Fire X2100, X2200, X4100, X4200, and X4600 servers providing from one to eight sockets for dual-core AMD Opteron processors • The Sun Fire X4500 server, integrating powerful AMD Opteron processors with massive data storage and throughput, delivering very high storage density (up to 24 TB) and throughput at a very low cost per gigabyte • The Sun Blade 8000 modular system, delivering the performance, capacity, and I/O to support high-performance, large-memory applications, allowing entire grids or clusters to be consolidated into a single chassis Figure 3: Sun provides a full line of x64 servers ideal for demanding EDA applications 4 Solution Brief: Sun Systems for EDA sun.com/x64 Learn More Learn more about Sun's x64 systems featuring AMD Opteron processors for EDA by visiting sun.com/x64, or talk to your local Sun representative about scheduling a half-day session. ing computation and memory-intensive simulation jobs. These powerful workstations can Figure 4: Sun Ultra 20 and Ultra 40 workstations (EDA software courtesy of Silvaco International) • The Sun Grid Rack System for HPC, featuring a choice of high-performance x64 servers in a factory-integrated and tested computer cluster, developed by Sun experts to lower risk, speed deployment, and deliver high performance in a scalable, flexible HPC grid implementation • Common architecture, preserving investments and promoting the longevity of deployments, Sun x64 servers feature common architecture that makes it easy to upgrade the components most likely to change while retaining investments in other infrastructure • Sun N1™ management software, such as Sun N1 Grid Engine distributed resource management (DRM) software and Sun N1 System Manager help harness, consolidate, and manage even very large numbers of systems also provide additional resources to grid computing environments, even as they supply a productive interactive environment for electronic design professionals. Sun x64 servers with AMD Opteron processors Compact, powerful, and efficient, Sun x64 servers are ideal for demanding EDA environments. From the single-socket Sun Fire X2100 server through the 4- to 8-socket Sun Fire X4600 server, these systems are adept at running large-memory applications and for consolidating general-purpose EDA compute farm systems. With support for up to 40 dualcore AMD Opteron processors in a single 19U Sun workstations with AMD Opteron processors With excellent computational performance characteristics and a range of available highresolution NVIDIA Quadro graphics accelerators, Sun x64 workstations with AMD Opteron processors (Figure 4) are ideal for interactive PCB, FPGA, and IC layout as well as demandFeature Sun Ultra 20 and 40 Workstations One (Ultra 20)/ Two (Ultra 40) Sun Fire X2100 and X2200 Servers One (X2100) / Two (X2200) Sun Fire X4100 and X4200 Servers Two Sun Fire X4500 Server Two Sun Fire X4600 Server Four, upgradeable to eight Sun Blade 8000 Modular System Four per Sun Blade x8400 server module (40 per chassis) Up to 64 GB per server module 19 RU (per chassis) chassis (80 processors and 160 cores per rack) the Sun Blade 8000 modular server provides a consolidated and manageable cluster or grid in a single chassis or rack. Sun x64 systems Sun has a long history as a customer, innovator, and provider of systems and solutions for EDA. With Sun’s industry-leading x64 systems with AMD Opteron processors and a choice of leading operating systems, Sun can help deliver enhanced performance and compute density for existing 32-bit EDA applications while helping organizations transition to 64bit computing on their own terms. The results for EDA professionals include higher productivity and faster high-quality designs that meet or beat tape-out dates. Sockets for AMD Opteron processors Memory Up to 8 GB (20) Up to 32 GB (40) Tower Up to 8/64 GB Up to 32 GB (8/32 GB per socket) (16 GB per socket) 1 RU Up to 16 GB (8 GB per socket) Up to 128 GB (16 GB per socket) 4 RU Rack Units 1 RU/2 RU (X4200) 4 RU Sun Microsystems, Inc. 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA Phone 1-650-960-1300 or 1-800-555-9SUN Web sun.com ©2006, Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Sun Fire, Sun Blade, Sun Ultra, Solairs, Java, and N1 are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing the SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. AMD, AMD Opteron, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Printed in USA 08/06 SunWin#: 429802