SAN JOSE, Calif., April 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, is pleased to announce the Deneva 2 Series SSDs will be used as the storage device of choice in a pending 'Data-Scope' research project at The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to create servers for scientific data processing. This initiative to maximize data processing power is spearheaded by Dr. Alexander Szalay, Alumni Centennial Professor in the university's Department of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the JHU Institute for Data Intensive Engineering and Science.
With the goal of creating an affordable, powerful computational environment that can be used as a blueprint for future science applications, the JHU project comprises a system of nearly one hundred servers using hundreds of OCZ Deneva 2 SSDs combined with regular hard disk drives with two tiers for storage and computing. These powerful yet inexpensive systems also serve to expose students and researchers to leading-edge technology at an early stage.
"We are extremely pleased to collaborate with The Johns Hopkins University and contribute some of our technical expertise to projects that are on the cutting edge," said Dr. Michael Schuette, V.P. of Technology Development at OCZ Technology. "The Data-Scope project using OCZ Deneva 2 SSDs as key components is an important step towards revolutionizing scientific computing, and we are proud to be a part of it."
One of several projects on the Data-Scope is a digital "multiverse" which will contain a database of the most astronomical objects ever detected. The project will allow every astronomer in the world to perform their own data analyses through remote access to the entire database, without the need of downloading tens to hundreds of terabytes of data through the Internet. Similar projects are in progress to analyze hundreds of terabytes of genomic data, and petabyte-scale numerical simulations in turbulence, cosmology and ocean circulation, all "Big Data" problems which do not fit the traditional models of scientific computing.
The completed Data-Scope will drive a new approach to science, where discovery is driven by large data set analysis. In order to be successful, scientists must be able to simultaneously build statistical aggregations over petabytes of data, yet explore the smallest aspects of the underlying collections. The unique advantage of this system is its ability to function both as a "microscope" and as a "telescope" for data, as well as its storage capacity of 6 petabytes, and its 500 gigabytes per second sequential I/O performance and 20 million IOPS. In addition to raw bandwidth, SSDs provide a smaller operating footprint over traditional HDDs, greatly reducing power consumption while still delivering the same amount of IOPS performance .
Leveraging the benefits of General Purpose Computing on GPUs (GPGPU) for scientific and engineering computing, random access data is streamed directly from SSDs into the co-hosted GPUs over the system backplane. The two major benefits of this architecture are the elimination of access latency by the SSD tier of the storage hierarchy, and the elimination of the network bottleneck by co-locating storage and processing on the same server.
OCZ Technology continues to deliver high-performance storage solutions that are a faster and more cost effective to deploy over traditional HDDs in any application, from client and business systems to educational and scientific research purposes. The JHU Data-Scope project, which is scheduled to deploy in early spring, is the ideal showcase for the strengths of SSDs in efficiently and reliably processing multiple petabytes data.
About OCZ Technology Group, Inc.
Founded in 2002, San Jose, CA-based OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (OCZ), is a leader in the design, manufacturing, and distribution of high performance and reliable Solid-State Drives (SSDs) and premium computer components. OCZ has built on its expertise in high-speed memory to become a leader in the enterprise and consumer SSD markets, a technology that competes with traditional rotating magnetic hard disk drives (HDDs). SSDs are faster, more reliable, generate less heat and use significantly less power than the HDDs used in the majority of computers today. In addition to SSD technology, OCZ also offers high performance components for computing devices and systems, including enterprise-class power management products. For more information, please visit: www.ocztechnology.com.
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Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release relate to future events and expectations and as such constitute forward-looking statements involving known and unknown factors that may cause actual results of OCZ Technology Group, Inc. to be different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. In this context, words such as "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "should" or other similar words and phrases often identify forward-looking statements made on behalf of OCZ. It is important to note that actual results of OCZ may differ materially from those described or implied in such forward-looking statements based on a number of factors and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, market acceptance of OCZ's products and OCZ's ability to continually develop enhanced products; adverse changes both in the general macro-economic environment as well as in the industries OCZ serves, including computer manufacturing, traditional and online retailers, information storage, internet search and content providers and computer system integrators; OCZ's ability to efficiently manage material and inventory, including integrated circuit chip costs and freight costs; and OCZ's ability to generate cash from operations, secure external funding for its operations and manage its liquidity needs. Other general economic, business and financing conditions and factors are described in more detail in "Item 1A -- Risk Factors" in Part I in OCZ's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on May 17, 2011, and amended on May 31, 2011, and statements made in other subsequent filings. The filing is available both at www.sec.gov as well as via OCZ's website at www.ocztechnology.com. OCZ does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.