I need some background information on the different types of High
Performance Computing (HPC) models in the Academic and Commercial
world.

My company has just started marketing the latest Intel Itanium 2
processors which are fully scaleable from 2-32 processors, and we also
have interconnects to allow these to be joined up to create a
multi-node supercomputer.  We are, however, new to the world of HPC
and I need to understand the market and the different types of HPC
available/used.

I am looking for links to overviews and explanations of the different
types of HPC that will allow me to understand the
marketplace and where we will be able to compete.  Also any analysis
of the existing players in this market would be useful.

Hello Cadgey,
HPCs would be considered supercomputers today. Basically, I think you
would be playing a supplier in a field dominated by the likes of Dell,
IBM, Sun Microsystems, Fujitsu, Cray, and other big makers of server
systems. Maybe you’d be dealing with these companies sometime.

Below I listed the top HPCs used in the world. They might be far above
your line, but I assume they use models more or less contemporary with
what you market today.

TOP500 Supercomputer sites: TOP500 List 06/2003
http://www.top500.org/list/2003/06/
- Note that these are the most powerful publicly known high
performance computers being used today in the world.


Below, I also included some websites below  that give the basic on
High Performance Computing, and gives the basic types. After them I
included various websites on companies and other articles on HPCs and
some HPCs at work. The organization of the link is hodgepodge, but I
hope you get what you need here.

Introduction to High Performance Computing
http://www.ac3.com.au/edu/hpc-intro/

Classes of High Performance Computers
http://www.ac3.com.au/edu/hpc-intro/node8.html
- 3 classes: Vector, SMP and Clusters

HP Press Release: HP Again No. 1 in High Performance Computing
Revenues
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2002/021125d.html

Dell - Dell High Performance Computers Aid University of Alabama at
Birmingham Cardiac Research
http://www.dell.com/us/en/gen/corporate/press/pressoffice_news_2002-03-19-aus-000.htm

Sun, IBM Forge High Performance Computing Units
http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/2196221

Sun Microsystems scores lead in high performance computing market
share
http://www.hoise.com/primeur/02/articles/monthly/AE-PR-02-02-16.html

The Recent Revolution in High-Performance Computing
http://www.nersc.gov/aboutnersc/pubs/revolution.html

Aspen Systems Inc. - High Performance Technical Computing Specialists
http://www.aspsys.com/

Top 500 HPCs for June 2001
http://www.netlib.org/benchmark/top500/top500.list.html
- Old list, in case you might be interested

Distributed and High-Performance Computing - Course Overview
http://www.dhpc.adelaide.edu.au/education/dhpc/overview.html

High Performance Computing Facility - NIWA
http://www.niwa.cri.nz/rc/hpcf/

Cray Inc., the World's Most Powerful Supercomputers (High Performance
Computing - HPC
http://www.cray.com/

Architectures And Techniques For Using High Performance Computers To
Support Workstation Based Dii Coe Applications
http://www.hpcmo.hpc.mil/Htdocs/UGC/UGC98/papers/p3/


I decided to include these in case you might have a customer from
abroad. But even if not, these rules could be vital for a supplier of
HPCs to know.
Government documents:
CHAPTER 9 High Performance Computers (Section 742.12)
http://www.bxa.doc.gov/news/2002/ForeignPolicyReport02/chap09_hpcs.pdf

U. S. Bureau of Industry and Security - High Performance Computers
(HPCs)
http://www.bxa.doc.gov/HPCs/Default.htm

High Performance Computing Systems (HPCS)
http://www.hpcc.gov/pubs/blue94/section.3.1.html

2. High Performance Computing Systems
http://www.itrd.gov/pubs/blue96/section.2.2.html

Exporting High Performance Computers
http://www.ita.doc.gov/exportamerica/Volume%202/May%202001/nfc_HPC.pdf


Other resources:
High Performance Computing: A Short Tour Through Supercomputers,
Clusters, and Grid Computing
http://www.csit.fsu.edu/supercomputer/high-performance.html

TOP500 Supercomputer Sites (mirror site of the above)
http://www.netlib.org/benchmark/top500.html

Supercomputing Online - The Leading News Source for High Performance
Computing, Networking & Communications Professionals
http://www.supercomputingonline.com/index.php

Inderscience Publishers – International Journal of High Performance
Computing and networking
http://www.inderscience.com/catalogue/h/ijhpcn/indexijhpcn.html

Cornell Theory Center - Glossary of High Performance Computing Terms
http://www.tc.cornell.edu/Services/Edu/Topics/Glossary/

Network World Fusion - Results for '"High-Performance Computers"' –
lists reports that are purchased
http://search.nwfusion.com/idcrep/query.html?col=idcrep&qt=%22High-Performance+Computers%22

Supercomputers: White Papers, Webcasts and Case Studies
http://www.bitpipe.com/data/rlist?t=pd_10_20_70&orgtypegrp=ALL
- Unfortunately, you have to pay for this too.


For the benefit of others who were wondering:
IntelŪ Products - IntelŪ ItaniumŪ 2 Processor
http://www.intel.com/products/server/processors/server/itanium2/


Google search terms used: 
high performance computing market
high performance computing market share
high performance computing systems
high performance computing types
high performance computer market
high performance computers
hpc market


I hope this has been a most helpful answer. If you have any problem
with it, do please post a Request for Clarification and I shall
respond. Thank you.

Thanks for the research - I was hoping for some more generic
instructional and comparison sites/info rather than the sites of other
manufacturers, but a few of those sites had very useful info, and I
had failed to find them!

Much appreciated - thanks.