[Bioclusters] number of bioclusters, bio-HPC users

[Joe Landman]

Hi folks:

   I asked this a long time ago here and elsewhere, but I figure it is 
time to ask again.  Are there any studies out there in the world (for 
pay or for free/download/quoteable) on the number of HPC users in the 
life sciences?  Basically I am trying to "track" the "market size" (read 
as the total number of users) for high performance clusters, grids, and 
related computing gear.  I dont care about web servers, file servers, 
and so forth.  Most studies I have seen don't break this out.

   I have various bits of data from a number of paid sources, but I am 
looking for additional information.  Basically I am trying to understand 
what the computational cycle appetite is today, and what people think it 
will be tomorrow.

   I have used bits of this information in the past in various talks and 
presentations, as well as other things I am working on.  I would like to 
get a sense, and a get discussion going on this, to see what people think.

   Also, it would be interesting to hear what architectures are most 
interesting to people and why.  Some architectures have been pure hype 
(cough), some are panning out.  What do you think people will be buying 
in the short, medium, and long term?  I ask this in part because of the 
bits I have seen recently with Itanium2 predictions from Gartner, which 
when framed in the context of the IBM analysis several months ago to 
explain the removal of this platform from their offerings, is to say the 
least, interesting.

   Thanks!


-- 
Joseph Landman, Ph.D
Founder and CEO
Scalable Informatics LLC,
email: landman at scalableinformatics.com
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