MARC Analysis Research Corporation and Digital Equipment Corporation have announced the availability of MARC 6.3, MARC`s high-performance, non-linear finite element software, for Digital`s 64-bit AlphaServer symmetric multiprocessor systems. MARC also announced that the Digital AlphaServer 8400 5/440 has achieved the highest MARC parallel performance in the industry, beating systems from IBM, HP, Sun and SGI. Running on Digital`s AlphaServer systems under the 64-bit Digital Unix operating system, MARC K6.3 uses DECmpi, Digital`s optimised version of the MPI message-passing parallel processing software. DECmpi has been optimised by Digital to provide maximum scaling on multiple processors in both shared-memory multi-processing systems and distributed memory systems using Digital`s Memory Channel interconnect. On the SMP AlphaServer 8400 5/440, with 2 gigabytes (GB) of memory, a near linear scaling of 7.7 was achieved on an eight-processor system, resulting in absolute performance that was faster than any other comparable system. Benchmark data is available from MARC`s website, http://www.marc.com/. "The results of the benchmarks on MARC K6.3 on the AlphaServer 8400 demonstrate how well MARC`s engineers have designed their solver to take advantage of parallel processing," said Rob Schroenn, product marketing manager at Digital SA. "The combination of the Digital AlphaServer and MARC creates a powerful tool enabling engineers to solve even the most challenging linear or nonlinear simulations. "The key is the advanced programming model used by MARC coupled with the extraordinary performance and scalability of the AlphaServer. This permits sizeable product simulations to be solved extremely quickly. As a result, engineers can perform highly accurate analyses of product designs and manufacturing processes in a time frame that permits rapid turnaround and experimentation." MARC Analysis Research Corporation is the world`s leading supplier of advanced finite element analysis software. With 16 offices around the world, MARC develops, markets and supports tools for advanced engineering analysis, with special emphasis on nonlinear structural and thermal problems. With over 25 years of software research and development, MARC is well known for helping companies design better products through the use of realistic engineering simulations. MARC is a pioneer in the field of "Virtual Manufacturing" and its products have been used worldwide in automotive, aerospace, energy, biomechanics, consumer electronics and manufacturing applications. MARC provides support for its complete product set, including the MARC solver and Mentat II pre and post-processing software, on Digital Alpha systems running both Digital UNIX and Windows NT and x86-based systems running Windows 95 and Windows NT.
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