Yandex makes a seismic shift

Russian search engine Yandex is going underground by backing geophysical seismic data processing firm Seismotech.
 
The geophysical exploration firm is utilizing Yandex’ distributed computing technology to process large volumes of data simultaneously on hundreds of servers. Seismotech management claims the move will cut the time taken to perform calculations from months to a few hours.
 
“This is something that puts us in an excellent position for developing new services for geophysical exploration and offering them to our clients,” Seismotech chief Dmitry Mosyakov says.
 
Yandex chief executive Arkady Volozh says the agreement highlights the IT industry is no longer the main consumer of computing power. “Parallel computing technologies we have been using in internet search can now power seismic exploration,” he notes.
 
The Russian firm is backing the deal by acquiring a 25% stake in Seismotech for $1 million (€800,605).