Silicon Graphics: Feeling the Pressure

Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) has owned the market for systems to create computer-intensive simulations, animations, and 3-D visualizations. Its customers include major automotive and aerospace companies, and the company can lay claim to more than a dozen Oscar nominations for contributions to Shrek, Jurassic Park and other hits.

However, longtime customers in the entertainment business are abandoning the company's machines in favor of much cheaper—and they say faster—Linux boxes. While Silicon Graphics is still very much a mainstay with automotive manufacturers for vehicle design and crash simulations, some, like General Motors, are experimenting with competing systems. For one, GM signed a deal in August to purchase 10 IBM p690 32-processor servers, also known by the name Regatta, to run virtual crash simulations.

Tippett Studios, a production house, has used Silicon Graphics machines since 1983 for movie magic in productions such as Starship Troopers. Technology Director Christian Rice says the studio is increasingly moving away from SGI workstations to Linux boxes.

Rice says the switch has nothing to do with Tippett's relationship with SGI or its ongoing support. He rates both as "gold." It's more a matter of speed and economics. A custom Linux box built by a local shop costs about $2,500, whereas a comparable SGI Octane machine goes for about $25,000. Rice adds the Linux boxes are as much as 35% faster.

The switch comes with trade-offs. Linux workstations are more prone to crashes, and lack support for the rich development tools built for SGI machines. "But when you're not running a life-and-death operation, you can account for the crashes and still come out way ahead [with Linux]," he says.

In other areas, Silicon Graphics continues to have strong support. The BP Center for Visualization at the University of Colorado at Boulder uses an SGI Onyx 3800 supercomputer to drive a virtual reality center used by oil and gas companies and other industries to create 3-D images of seismic data and geology patterns. Executive Director Geoffrey Dorn says the system has to be powerful enough to track a user's head and hand movements to a millimeter. "To drive it, you need the most powerful graphics machine in the world, and SGI has it," he says.

Space Imaging, a Denver company that captures and sells images of Earth from space, also has based its business on SGI technology. Brian Leslie, director of international ground station development and deployment, says SGI's ongoing support is part of the reason. "It's been excellent," he says. "They understand our needs and have been closely involved in our projects."

Reference Checks

BUFFALO CENTER FOR COMPUTATIONAL RESEARCH Russ Miller Director (716) 645-6500 Project: Center is ranked among top 10 supercomputer sites in the world, and uses a number of SGI computers, including a 64-processor Origin 3800. Ongoing work includes cancer and antibiotic research.

BLUE SKY STUDIOS Carl Ludwig VP, Research and Development (914) 259-6500 Project: The White Plains, N.Y., studio uses SGI computers to create animated movies and visual effects. Works include computer-rendered movie Ice Age. The company, however, is starting to switch to Linux boxes.

BP CENTER FOR VISUALIZATION Geoffrey Dorn Executive Director (303) 492-3667 Project: SGI Onyx 3800 visualization system powers a "reality center" which allows scientists and engineers to be placed in an environment created from such data as oil and gas seismic readings.

NEW MEDIA INNOVATION CENTER Brian Corrie Research Associate (604) 806-5100 Project: An SGI Onyx 3200 computer helps perform research into such areas as geology, electronic gaming, and auto design.

SPACE IMAGING Brian Leslie Director, International Ground Stations (303) 254-2000 Project: Uses SGI computers to direct satellites to take about 1,200 pictures of Earth a day, and download images to base stations.

TIPPETT STUDIOS Christian Rice Director of Technology (510) 649-9711 Project: Has been using SGI machines since 1983 to render animations and visual effects for movies. It is increasingly switching to Linux boxes due to cost and performance issues.

Company Profile

SILICON GRAPHICS INC.

1600 AMPHITHEATRE PKWY., MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94043

(650) 960-1980

www.sgi.com

TICKER: SGI

EXCHANGE: NYSE

EMPLOYEES: 4,443

ROBERT BISHOP Chairman, CEO Joined in 1986 as president of SGI's World Trade Corp., and was responsible for building its international business. Named chairman in 1995, and CEO in 1999.

WARREN PRATT Executive VP, COO Appointed COO in 2001. Has held a variety of engineering and management positions at SGI since 1992.

ENG LIM GOH Chief Technology Officer Cambridge University scholar, worked for Intergraph Systems, Schlumberger Wireline Netherlands and Shell Research before joining SGI 13 years ago.

PRODUCTS

High-performance computers, storage, workstations, visualization systems, as well as software. Most systems are designed to use master integrated program schedule, reduced instruction set computer processors and SGI's IRIX operating system.

Copyright © 2002 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Baseline.