SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - Nov 14, 2011) - Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. (NASDAQ: [ CRAY ]) today announced the latest addition to its line of high performance computing (HPC) products with the launch of the Cray Sonexion 1300 system -- an integrated file system, software and storage product. The introduction of the Cray Sonexion 1300 system extends Cray's presence in the storage solutions business and gives the Company the ability to offer its customers a complete and scalable Lustre file system.

Designed specifically for a wide range of HPC workloads, the Cray Sonexion 1300 system cost-effectively scales from approximately 50 terabytes to more than 50 petabytes of useable capacity without a compromise in performance. The storage system also features data rates of more than a terabyte-per-second.

With an increasing market demand for larger, faster and more productive HPC storage systems, the key differentiator in the Cray Sonexion 1300 system is that the storage product is specifically designed to provide users with an integrated, scalable Lustre solution that is easy to install and maintain. Cray's new storage system combines powerful servers, the latest Lustre parallel file system and management software into a modular storage product that is built, thoroughly tested, shipped and supported as a complete solution.

The Cray Sonexion 1300 storage system will be a key part of the recently announced Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, and will provide more than one terabyte-per-second of aggregate bandwidth when fully installed in one of the largest capacity storage subsystems in the world.

"After a thorough evaluation of the Cray Sonexion integrated storage product, we selected the Lustre-based solution to be an integral part of the Blue Waters system," said Bill Kramer of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. "The Cray Sonexion installation at NCSA will provide more than a terabyte-per-second of sustained IO performance for scientific applications. Cray's system is designed from the ground-up with Lustre in mind, and brings further innovations that include factory testing and installation of Lustre, full redundancy, integrated servers, SSD for journaling and excellent upgradeability features. We are confident that with the combination of Cray's experience in scalable storage and tight Lustre integration, this will be one of the most productive file systems for sustained science applications performance."

The Cray Sonexion 1300 system leverages Cray's proven experience with Lustre parallel file systems. Cray has delivered some of the highest performance and most productive file systems in the HPC market, including Lustre-based solutions to customers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the University of Stuttgart's High Performance Computing Center (HLRS), and the Korea Meteorological Administration. Cray is also a founding member of OpenSFS -- a technical, community-based organization that is focused on high-end, open-source file system technologies and is committed to ensuring the ongoing success of Lustre.

"More and more of our customers have expressed a need for increased performance, reliability and manageability from storage systems that can be shared with their highest performance, mission critical systems in their datacenter," said Barry Bolding, Cray's vice president of storage and data management. "As a result, we decided to provide a storage product with a scale-out architecture, which is purpose-designed and built to run Lustre, but employs a testing discipline and set of integrated management tools that exceeds other available solutions. The Cray Sonexion 1300 storage solution greatly improves the user experience with shared, scalable Lustre file systems -- both large and small."

Bolding added, "We see this as an exciting time for the Lustre community in terms of performance, functionality and support. With the introduction of the Cray Sonexion storage system, we can now deliver a storage solution that meets the real-world demands of production file systems for the petascale era."

Available now at prices starting at less than $250,000, the Cray Sonexion 1300 system is extremely easy to configure and is upgradeable as customers' storage and performance needs increase over time. Cray Sonexion systems are built from three major components: high performance Scalable Storage Units, a Metadata Management Unit, and network-ready cabinets that include InfiniBand switch connectivity. Customers' varying requirements for capacity and bandwidth can be met and upgraded on-the-fly. The Cray Sonexion 1300 system is shipped as an integrated solution with all management and Lustre software installed, and Cray will provide global support and services for Sonexion systems. Cray will support Sonexion 1300 systems for clients on both Cray and non-Cray compute systems.

Additional information on the Cray Sonexion 1300 system, including a brochure and technical details, can be found on the [ Cray Sonexion 1300 system page ] on the Cray website.

About Cray Inc.
As a global leader in supercomputing, Cray provides highly advanced supercomputers and world-class services and support to government, industry and academia. Cray technology is designed to enable scientists and engineers to achieve remarkable breakthroughs by accelerating performance, improving efficiency and extending the capabilities of their most demanding applications. Cray's Adaptive Supercomputing vision is focused on delivering innovative next-generation products that integrate diverse processing technologies into a unified architecture, allowing customers to surpass today's limitations and meeting the market's continued demand for realized performance. Go to [ www.cray.com ] for more information.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, including, but not limited to, statements related to Cray's ability to deliver a Cray Sonexion storage solution for the Blue Waters system that meets the customer's needs. These statements involve current expectations, forecasts of future events and other statements that are not historical facts. Inaccurate assumptions and known and unknown risks and uncertainties can affect the accuracy of forward-looking statements and cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect actual future events or results include, but are not limited to, the risk that the Blue Waters system, including the Cray Sonexion storage solution, does not perform as expected and such other risks as identified in the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, and from time to time in other reports filed by Cray with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not rely unduly on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this release. Cray undertakes no duty to publicly announce or report revisions to these statements as new information becomes available that may change the Company's expectations.

Cray is a registered trademark of Cray Inc. in the United States and other countries, and Sonexion is a registered trademark of Cray Inc. Other product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.