At the beginning of April, HPCwire reported that Linux Networx had appointed Rene Copeland as the executive VP for global sales and marketing. [http://news.taborcommunications.com/msgget.jsp?mid=360270&xsl=story.xsl] Recently, Rene Copeland spoke to HPCwire about his new role at the company and what keeps him up at night.

HPCwire: What brings you to Linux Networx?

Rene Copeland: I had been following the success of Linux Networx for quite some time because of its leadership position in the HPC industry. It's a fantastic opportunity to be involved in the fastest growing market in HPC with the proven innovation leader in the cluster computing industry.

HPCwire: What will your responsibilities entail at Linux Networx?

Copeland: As the executive vice president for global sales and marketing for Linux Networx, I will be responsible for directing the planning, organization and implementation of marketing, sales and business development activities.

HPCwire: With over 25 years experience in the HPC industry, what are the major milestones you've seen in the industry?

Copeland: There have been many key events that have shaped the HPC industry. In the early eighties it was very rewarding to watch as the Industrial market, led by Boeing and General Motors, moved to use high performance computing. This was very new and was the beginning of commercial industries starting to use the same computation platforms that had been reserved for large national labs and the intelligence community. Another milestone was the beginning of the NSF Centers Program with NCSA (University of IL). This led to so many great collaborations with academia and industry.

HPCwire: How are companies like Linux Networx competing against other supercomputing giants?

Copeland: Linux Networx has distinguished itself as the expert in Linux cluster computing by removing the complexity associated with clusters. Linux Networx has achieved this distinction by establishing leading expertise in every layer of the cluster stack-from the CPU and interconnect, all the way to the application. Linux Networx is successful because our efforts are concentrated on delivering computing systems to help customers overcome their most difficult computing challenges. Linux Networx also distinguishes itself by offering tools and services designed specifically to ensure customers get the most productivity possible from their system. All of these efforts make Linux Networx the HPC solutions provider of choice for organizations wanting to improve productivity and maximize ROI.

HPCwire: I understand Linux Networx is growing internationally. What opportunities are there for HPC companies in international markets?

Copeland: A large part of Linux Networx's business strategy is continued growth in international markets, especially Europe and Asia. We've experienced great success in Japan and we expect to see our first order from China this month. We are also seeing tremendous interest from organizations looking for HPC solutions that meet their industry's specific needs. A trend we're seeing both domestically and internationally is the need for systems optimized for specific applications. Linux Networx is meeting this demand by partnering with many top-tier application vendors to optimize and pre-integrate software onto our Evolocity cluster systems. The result is our customers are able to perform more simulations, analysis, and high quality modeling while decreasing operation cost and reducing system complexity.

HPCwire: What important HPC technologies do you see emerging in the next few years?

Copeland: There are several emerging trends in HPC that will continue to develop and become more mainstream in the next few years. The Open-standards movement is something Linux Networx believes strongly in. The most successful example of Open-standards in HPC was the disruptive technology of the Linux cluster concept. For Linux Networx, a large part of our success can be attributed to our ability to take the concept of a Beowulf cluster – and evolve it into being able to deliver a highly productive cluster computing system. Linux cluster systems are now becoming very mainstream in HPC. Emerging technologies that can embrace this movement in areas such as interconnect, storage, system management, processing, etc., will be exciting to watch for.

HPCwire: How will Linux Networx be involved in leveraging these technologies?

Copeland: Linux Networx has expertise and leadership at every layer of the Linux cluster stack. We are selective and strategic in where we focus our efforts to add value. In other words – we add value to the critical areas where we can have the most impact in improving system performance, management and reliability. To date, from an IP standpoint we have created industry-leading system management tools with our Clusterworx software and Icebox appliance – and node packaging and cooling with our patented Active Cooling technology in our Evolocity nodes. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on our ability to successfully deliver new and valuable Open-standards-based technologies first. But, we also have a very active R&D group at Linux Networx and are planning on unveiling a new cluster platform in 2005 that will feature several innovative technologies that will be valuable to HPC users.

HPCwire: What keeps you up at night, so to speak? What do you feel will be your major challenges ahead?

Copeland: Linux Networx is expanding at such a rapid pace that finding and hiring good HPC talent continues to be a challenge. There are many experienced and knowledgeable people in the industry, but it's very competitive and we want to get the best people to help drive the company forward.

HPCwire: What are some major challenges in HPC right now? How will you help Linux Networx to overcome them?

Copeland: One of our biggest challenges is to increase the number of new customers in the HPC family. Many companies are still reluctant to make use of the technology. We picked up quite a few new customers this quarter (Q1) and have many efforts in place to expand our customer base. For example, we are hosting our first Linux Networx User Group meeting late this year and will use this forum as a vehicle to solidify and grow our customer base.

HPCwire: What is the best tool a company can have to drive its success?

Copeland: Tools that allow greater insight are key to success. This can be receiving faster information about the crash analysis of a new car design, or better predictability of risk in a Wall Street portfolio. Faster time to insight and more reliable information are derived from tools the HPC community provides.

HPCwire: What vertical sectors do you see Linux Networx going for? Why?

Copeland: Whether our systems are used for research or production purposes, Linux Networx customizes its cluster systems for each vertical market involved in HPC. We've always had a strong focus on the government sector and have established ourselves as the expert in this market by building some of the largest, most cutting-edge systems for government sites. Additionally, one of the most exciting vertical markets in HPC is the manufacturing industry. We are seeing explosive growth in the automotive, aerospace, and other industries involved in CFD, FEA and EDA simulations. To help meet the specific needs of this industry, we've partnered with providers of popular engineering design applications to provide pre-integrated systems complete with the necessary software. Other vertical markets we're pursuing are the life sciences and oil & gas markets where we are delivering systems pre-integrated with optimized applications for these specific markets. By working with ISVs and ensuring these applications run seamlessly on our systems, our customers are sure to receive the most efficient, productive systems possible.

Copeland managed the world-wide manufacturing segment at IBM Corp. for the RS/6000 SP supercomputer and held a variety of senior positions at SGI Inc. Copeland also serviced as President and CEO of Instrumental Inc., a start-up software company focused on productivity software for the UNIX high-performance computing market.

Copeland graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a B.S. Electrical Engineering and later received a M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.