[yellowdog-announce] YDL v6.0 for IBM QS21 Cell Blade: Press Release 12 November 2007

[Announce List for all Terra Soft products (moderated)]

TERRA SOFT OFFERS SUPPORT FOR IBM QS21 CELL BLADE

LOVELAND, Colorado - 12 November 2007 - Terra Soft Solutions launches Yellow 
Dog Linux v6.0 for the IBM BladeCenter QS21 based on the multi-core Cell 
Broadband Engine(TM) (Cell/B.E.) processor, marking Terra Soft's second 
professional OS offering for a Cell/B.E. based system.

On October 26, Terra Soft Solutions completed a Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) Board 
Support Package (BSP) for the IBM BladeCenter QS21. This evolutionary 
addition to the growing family of Terra Soft's operating system for the Power 
architecture offers QS21 end-users an advanced, robust, fully tested 
RPM-based Linux OS. Coupled with professional support from Terra Soft, YDL 
v6.0 with integrated IBM SDK v3.0 enables end-users to rapidly install, 
deploy, and immediately use QS21 compute nodes.

The YDL BSP for QS21 includes:
- CentOS 5 foundation
- Select Fedora 7 components.
- Kernel 2.6.22.
- Glibc 2.5, GCC 4.1.1.
- Select components of the IBM SDK for Multicore Acceleration Version 3.0
- Enlightenment E17 graphical environment.
- Easy to use, robust NFS root support.
- OFED 1.2.5 Infiniband support.

Unique features include:
- Rapid, root NFS installation for headless, diskless QS21 deployment.
- Binary compatibility with all other YDL BSPs for Cell/B.E. product from IBM, 
Mercury, and Sony.
- Ease of code migration to/from other Power arch family products.
- Feature-rich desktop available via VNC or video export.

Owen Stampflee, Lead Software Engineer for Terra Soft Solutions states, "It 
has been an honor to work with IBM in this respect, to provide support for 
the next generation Cell/B.E. blade. This release of Yellow Dog is the most 
advanced and thoroughly tested to date, boasting built-in diskless support 
and a new CentOS foundation, providing a higher degree of package evolution 
stability."

In November of 2005, Terra Soft initiated its work with Mercury Computer to 
support the Mercury Cell blades and 1U rackmount systems, bringing to market 
the world's first commercial Linux OS for Cell. In the summer of 2006, Terra 
Soft was engaged by Sony Computer Entertainment for the construction of a 
PLAYSTATION3 cluster and associated board support package which gave way to 
YDL v5.0 for the PS3. And now, Terra Soft's third Yellow Dog Linux board 
support package for Cell is available for IBM's QS21 BladeCenter form-factor 
product.

Yellow Dog Linux v6.0 brings Terra Soft into its tenth year of developing 
Linux for the Power architecture, furthering a deeply embedded understanding 
of operating system development and support for the Power architecture. This 
expertise is made available under contract to chip vendors and OEMs (Original 
Equipment Manufacturers) who have need for a BSP and/or end user operating 
system built upon the leading Power architecture Linux OS Yellow Dog Linux.

Yellow Dog Linux v6.0 for IBM QS21 Cell blades maybe purchased via the Terra 
Soft Store, the DVD ISO delivered via the YDL.net electronic distribution 
system. Terra Soft customers receive:
- A YDL.net account for secure, dedicated downloads.
- Annual installation and basic configuration support.
- Three (3) years security and critical updates.


About CentOS
CentOS is a community maintained, RPM based enterprise-class Linux 
distribution derived from a publicly available, open source foundation. 
Trusted worldwide in mission critical and enterprise arenas, CentOS offers an 
active, growing userbase and compatibility with major, enterprise Linux 
distributions.


About Terra Soft Solutions, Inc.
As the recognized leader in Linux for Power since 1999, Terra Soft provides 
Yellow Dog Linux board support for Power architecture chip vendors and OEMs; 
turn-key, integrated solutions built upon IBM, Mercury, and Sony systems; and 
cross-architecture Linux applications for high performance computing, 
including Y-HPC Cluster Construction Suite and the Y-Film Asset Management 
System.

For more information, visit www.terrasoftsolutions.com


IBM, BladeCenter, POWER, and Power Architecture are trademarks or registered 
trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United 
States or other countries or both. A full list of U.S. trademarks owned by 
IBM may be found at: http://www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. Cell Broadband 
Engine and Cell/B.E. are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. in 
the United States, other countries, or both. "Yellow Dog 
Linux, "YDL", "Y-HPC", and "Y-Film" are trademarks of Terra Soft 
Solutions. "Linux" is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Additional 
product and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or registered 
trademarks of their respective holders.