Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research

SFBR Reduces Costs and Produces Faster Research Results

The Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) is a nonprofit scientific institution dedicated to improving human health and recognized worldwide for the quality of its basic research into the nature, causes, prevention and eradication of disease.

Customer Challenges

Expand research efforts cost-effectively
Support legacy applications
Handle extreme number-crunching

Solution

Sun helped SFBR deploy a stable, robust, heterogeneous IT environment running Solaris, with Sun Grid Engine software to ensure availability and maximize computing resources.

Business Results

Increases researcher productivity
Reduces costs and training time
Delivers research results faster

Products and Services

Sun Fire 280R Server
Sun Fire V880 Server
Sun StorageTek 3510 FC Array
SunSpectrum Service Plans
Sun Grid Engine 5.3
Solaris 9

Story Details

With the public eye focused on the future promise of genetic research, scientists are leveraging powerful computing technologies to perform critical statistical genetic research at an unprecedented rate. With limited government funding, the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) needed to expand its technology infrastructure to support its growing research efforts in the most cost-effective way. “We needed an IT infrastructure that could handle extreme number crunching and data analysis to support our research needs, without breaking the bank,” explains Gerry Vest, Systems Administrator for SFBR. “After reviewing NetBSD, Linux, and Solaris, it became clear that Solaris could provide the most robust platform.”

The foundation deployed Solaris and Sun Grid Engine software to provide dependable, consistent, and inexpensive access to its computing resources. “With Sun Grid Engine software determining the most efficient use of our resources for us, we have been able to significantly reduce the time researchers spend submitting jobs, freeing up their time for more important research work,” says Vest. “By prioritizing jobs, Sun Grid Engine also helps ensure that critical number crunching is performed sooner, increasing productivity and expediting important research initiatives.”

" Sun delivers a powerful infrastructure that easily handles all our data analysis requirements. In addition, Sun’s continued support and commitment to meeting our needs is extremely important. "

— Gerry Vest, Systems Administrator, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research

The foundation estimates that certain computational tasks that would have taken three months can now be done in a few days. And SFBR saved considerably by choosing Solaris over alternative operating system deployments that can cost up to 13 times more. “Solaris helps ensure the continuity of our software infrastructure and provides a high-performance and stable platform so that we can focus our efforts on performing critical statistical genetic research well into the future,” says Vest. “With Sun’s solutions powering our computing center, we can accelerate the process of determining what genes influence common diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.”

In summary, the foundation deployed Solaris and Sun Grid Engine software to provide dependable, consistent, and inexpensive access to its computing resources.

education, research, healthcare, cost-savings, scalability, performance