INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: MaxVision
Bruce Imsand
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
MaxVision
Q: Can you tell us about MaxVision and the products and services it offers to military and intelligence customers?
A: MaxVision was founded in 1993 as a specialty computer hardware company. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, we had an epiphany, and began focusing on a new field, which we call rugged portable/ deployable computer workstations. What we have evolved into is a careful blend of custom computer engineering and high density computer packaging, with a comprehensive in-house manufacturing capability. This allows us to take traditional manufacturing techniques for high-volume production and blend them with rapid prototyping techniques, which enables us to do both low- and high-quantity manufacturing, and to turn that very rapidly. We call the concept “mass custom engineering and manufacturing.” For those computer applications needing ultra-high-end capabilities in a custom portable configuration, MaxVision is the ideal company to meet those needs. Approximately 50 percent of MaxVision product shipments can be considered custom, and about 50 percent of our total revenue is attributable in one form or another to the exploitation of geospatial imagery in the field.
Q: What unique benefits does your company offer military and intelligence customers?
A: Unlike a lot of companies in the military intelligence business, we are a hardware company first and foremost. Imagine, if you will, a workstation with large triple display with unsurpassed graphics performance, with four Xeon CPUs, up to 24 GB of main memory and up to 12 TB of fault-tolerant removable hard-disk mass storage. Now picture this computer operating at temperatures over 50 C, or 122 F, and in a nasty, dusty environment, such as you have in Baghdad, with lousy power, coming from sources that include generators to whatever power grid is available. We purify that power with an integrated UPS. Now image this collapsing into a volume of less than 2 cubic feet that can be hauled in our water-tight transit cases and is light enough for one man to move. Also imagine being able to set that up in two minutes.
What I have just described is MaxVision’s MaxPac8230XRA3 triple screen workstation and TeraPac3 hard-disk expansion system. That’s what is currently being used by the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency Office of Global Support [OSG]. Similar configurations are used by the NGA’s office of homeland security. Because the NGA application suite is used by all branches of the military, all have purchased MaxVision equipment, similar or identical to what I just described. These are in wide use by the OSG and branches of the military in Afghanistan, Iraq and other locations. They have been deployed there for approximately two years.
Q: What are some examples of the benefits experienced by military and intelligence customers?
A: In addition to the uncompromised performance of MaxVision equipment, the small size, easy setup and ability to operate self-contained in nasty environments are big wins for NGA. High temperature operation in dusty environments is routine for MaxVision, and that’s where we are focused.
Q: What areas are you working on for the future in meeting military and intelligence needs?
A: In addition to the performance benchmarks that NGA deployed users need, they have also demonstrated a nearly insatiable demand for mass storage. MaxVision can now support over 20 TB of on RAID storage through the use of the add-on TeraPac3. This is a relatively late offering, which has been requested by NGA and other customers, and we are now shipping this product. As a complement to these, MaxVision is about to begin shipments of a new product called the MaxCube. This server is built with the same high-temperature and dust-tolerant capabilities as the MaxPac used by the NGA, but this server will have up to eight Xeon CPUs and support up to 32 TB of RAID storage. The basic server only occupies a 1 cubic foot volume and weighs only 45 pounds complete with the integrated UPS, which can operate without power for 20 minutes. In addition, it can operate off of all known power sources and qualities, including 28 volts DC, which is important for some mobile applications.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
A: MaxVision delights in the opportunity to solve difficult deployable computer hardware problems. That’s what we live for. Nearly every product we design started with a special request or unsolved problem. Application-specific portable supercomputing is our game. You never know where it will appear next. Who would have ever guessed that a workstation developed for the Marines for C4ISR would be the broadcast computer of choice for ESPN? If you have something that you don’t think can be done, give us a try. ♦
