Continuing the long standing partnership between IBM and WesternGeco, in May 2001, WesternGeco selected an IBM Linux supercomputer comprising of 256 IBM eserver xSeries 330 systems, all running Linux. Today, WesternGeco has bought two further clusters of 1280 IBM eServer xSeries 330 machines powered by 1.4 GHz Intel Pentium III Processors all running Linux and Microsoft NT. IBM has now sold three clusters into WesternGeco this year – 642 nodes were purchased in March and now the further 1280 nodes will be installed next month. The existing clusters run OMEGA but the latest to be installed will run WesternGeco’s EDS software.
With the high cost of oil exploration, particularly the drilling effort, companies are turning to sophisticated methods of seismic imaging that allow scientists to create detailed 3D maps of hidden oil and gas reservoirs before drilling starts. WesternGeco is the world’s largest seismic company providing seismic acquisition and processing services to most of the world’s major oil companies..
“Today seismic imaging proceeds virtually all drilling expeditions and it is our goal to continually provide excellent technology solutions within the oil exploration industry,” said Dave Jursik, vice president, Linux emerging technologies, IBM. “We are delighted that our high performance Linux clusters are helping WesternGeco provide that service.”
“The use of IBM systems running Linux has greatly expanded our ability to provide oil companies with detailed images, or to assist oil companies in imaging potential drill sites,” said John Close, WesternGeco’s Data Processing Manager for Europe, CIS and Africa. “With excellent performance, we are now able to more fully utilize our most technically demanding imaging routines to assist oil companies with their oil exploration efforts.”
xSeries-based Linux clusters are highly scalable from 4 to 1024 processors and can be fully adapted to meet the high performance needs of the petroleum market. Linked by a fast network, the clusters can be easily managed from a single point of control and can act as either a single machine or a multiple node system.
About WesternGeco
WesternGeco is a leader in integrated exploration and reservoir imaging services, providing worldwide seismic acquisition, processing, and multiclient surveys. Headquartered in London, WesternGeco is a joint venture between Schlumberger and Baker Hughes.
About IBM
IBM is the world’s largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.
The IBM eServer brand consists of the established IBM e-business logo with the following descriptive term “server” following it. The IBM e-business logo and xSeries are trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
LINUX is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other company, product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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