SGI hopes Nasa’s Linux spend will boost results

SGI’s latest results edged closer to profitability, as it announced Nasa had bought a Linux machine with 256 Itanium 2 processors and was planning to
buy more

Nasa is using a Linux machine from Silicon Graphics with 256 Itanium 2 processors and plans to double that soon, the company said on Monday after
posting financial results that moved it closer toward profitability.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has long been a customer of SGI’s high-end computers using its Irix operating system and MIPS
processors. Now it’s following suit with the company’s Linux-Itanium line, called Altix. The new product line is a key part of the company’s attempt
to try to reverse a years-long revenue decline by tapping into growing markets.