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IBM Claims Computer Speed TitleBlue Gene/L Tops Japan Unit, Firm Says
Washington Post ^
| 9.29.04
| By Mike Musgrove
Posted on 09/29/2004 12:09:22 PM PDT by meandog
Wednesday, September 29, 2004; Page E05
IBM Corp. plans to announce today that it has built the world's fastest supercomputer at one of its facilities in Rochester, Minn., wresting the title from a system in Japan.
Dubbed the Blue Gene/L supercomputer, IBM's new system nudges past a nearly three-year-old computer speed record of 35.86 "teraflops," or trillions of calculations per second, with a working speed of 36.01 teraflops.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Technical
KEYWORDS: bigblue; ibm
Teraflop? I thought that was only Kerry's baliwick?
1
posted on
09/29/2004 12:09:30 PM PDT
by
meandog
To: meandog
Will this effect my Pac-Man game?
2
posted on
09/29/2004 12:13:06 PM PDT
by
Condor51
(May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't. -- Gen G. Patton Jr)
To: meandog
IBM's own PR:
BlueGene/L the #1 supercomputer in the world
IBM system surpasses NECs Earth Simulator
IBM engineers and researchers in Rochester, Minnesota were the first to know it BlueGene/L is now the fastest supercomputer in the world. Thats a tall order for a (relatively) short stack.
The Blue Gene team in Research and Systems & Technology Group created a system that surpassed NECs Earth Simulator using the industry-standard LINPACK benchmark. Yet this powerful system operates at a fraction of the size and power consumption of traditional systems.
Designed as a new approach to cost effective, ultra-powerful supercomputing, BlueGene/L attained a sustained a performance of 36.01 Teraflops, eclipsing the three year old top mark of 35.86 Teraflops for the Earth Simulator. The system is 1/100th the physical size (320 vs 32,500 square feet) and consumes 1/28th the power (216KW vs 6,000KW) as compared to the Earth Simulator.
This is a milestone in the five-year Blue Gene journey, asserting IBM's leadership in high-performance computing. This innovative approach to cost-effective, ultra-powerful (but power efficient) supercomputing, only reflects a fraction of BlueGene/Ls full potential.
The BlueGene/L architecture is adaptable to a range of applications, and will be more affordable than current supercomputing resources due to its smaller physical size and power efficiency. IBM and initial clients (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, ASTRON, Argonne National Laboratory and AIST ) are currently exploring a growing list of applications including hydrodynamics, quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, climate modeling and financial modeling.
Onward and upward
The IBM BlueGene/L supercomputer is a work in progress, with much larger systems planned for installation at IBM's TJ Watson Research Center, as well as the Livermore Lab.
For example, the largest planned BlueGene/L machine, scheduled for delivery to the lab in 2005, will occupy 64 full racks, with a peak performance of 360 teraflops. The Advanced Super Computing Program of the National Nuclear Security Administration is a primary collaborator on the Blue Gene project. The University of Caifornia operates the lab for the NNSA.
The BlueGene/L systems are a revolutionary breakthrough in computing, exploiting advanced IBM POWER microprocessors, similar to those used in game machines and consumer devices, and a Linux operating system.
IBM's team of engineers and researchers continue to expand and test the system in anticipation of the upcoming publication of the Top500 Supercomputer list.
For more information concerning this article, please contact Kristin A. Barto (
barto@us.ibm.com).
3
posted on
09/29/2004 12:15:21 PM PDT
by
AgThorn
(Go go Bush!! But don't turn your back on America with "immigrant amnesty")
To: meandog
An IBM PC circa 1989 8088 5MHz is still faster than I can type......
4
posted on
09/29/2004 12:16:03 PM PDT
by
Red Badger
(If you shoot from the hip enough times, eventually you'll shoot yourself in the a$$......)
To: meandog
5
posted on
09/29/2004 12:21:08 PM PDT
by
AgThorn
(Go go Bush!! But don't turn your back on America with "immigrant amnesty")
To: Condor51
Will this plug-and-play into my Commodore64?
6
posted on
09/29/2004 12:26:25 PM PDT
by
BipolarBob
(Yes I backed over the vampire, but I swear I didn't see it in my rearview mirror.)
To: BipolarBob
Everquest will be more fun. No more running through Plane of Knowledge at a snails pace.
7
posted on
09/29/2004 12:38:53 PM PDT
by
EQAndyBuzz
(Control the information given to society and you control society.)
To: meandog
For example, the largest planned BlueGene/L machine, scheduled for delivery to the lab in 2005, will occupy 64 full racks, with a peak performance of 360 teraflops. Very nice.
To: AgThorn
To: meandog
Imagine a beowolf cluster of these things (c) slashdot
Ya, but does it run Linux ? (c)slashdot
How many FPS can I get in Doom3 ? (c) (c)slashdot
10
posted on
09/29/2004 3:30:23 PM PDT
by
ChadGore
(Vote Bush. He's Earned It.)
To: ChadGore
It does run Linux for the IO nodes and IIRC the front-end. The workhorses are a custom lightweight kernel.
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