The Week in Review

By John E. West

July 13, 2007

Here’s a collection of highlights, selected totally subjectively, from this week’s HPC news stream as reported at insideHPC.com and HPCwire.

>>10 words and a link

An IBM first: the AIX6 public beta;
http://insidehpc.com/2007/07/12/an-ibm-first-the-aix6-public-beta/

DataSynapse revs software, supports enterprise grids up to 20k nodes;
http://insidehpc.com/2007/07/10/datasynapse-enabling-commercial-grids-of-up-to-20000-nodes/

DRC announces new Torrenza-enabled FPGA, Cray adopts for adaptive supercomputing;
http://insidehpc.com/2007/07/10/drc-and-cray-working-to-integrate-fpgas-at-hypertransport-speed/

Panasas builds 150TB single rack enterprise storage product;
http://insidehpc.com/2007/07/10/panasas-adds-150-tb-product/

ISC’07 sets new records, over 1200 participants;
http://insidehpc.com/2007/07/10/isc-sets-new-records/

DataDirect adds SATAssure to combat silent data corruption;
http://insidehpc.com/2007/07/10/directdata-networks-fights-silent-sata-corruption/

>>Reed’s teraflops-year code compilation

Dan Reed has a summary on his blog (http://www.renci.org/blog/pivot/entry.php?id=37) of this year’s DOE’s SOS11 workshop, held in Key West. This year’s workshop theme was “Challenges of Sustained Petascale Computation.”

The post is interesting, and Dr. Reed’s perspective is always valuable. Two comments in particular jumped out at me:

“In the vendor session, Intel discussed its 80-core teraflop test chip and some of the electrical signaling issues it was intended to test. Everyone at the workshop (and at Microsoft Manycore Computing Workshop) agreed that we would see hundred-core commodity chips by the end of the decade. Looking further, one can see thousand-core chips coming.”

And then this comment suggesting that as machines get more complex we may find it advantageous to rely more on machines to help us get performance out of our software:

“What I am really arguing is that we need to rethink aggressive machine optimization, virtualization and abstraction. What’s wrong with devoting a teraflop-year to large-scale code optimization? I don’t just mean peephole optimization or interprocedural analysis. Think about genetic programming, evolutionary algorithms, feedback-directed optimization, multiple objective code optimization, redundancy for fault tolerance and other techniques that assemble functionality from building blocks. Why have we come to believe that compilation times should be measurable with a stopwatch rather than a sundial?”

A sundial! Good stuff.

I think this point of view is worth some serious exploration. We’ve spent 40 years working on compiler technology to get it where it is today. Without a disruptive development (which is like winning the lottery: it happens, but hope isn’t a strategy) we’re unlikely to be able to effectively use the new computer hardware the chipmakers are developing for a very long time. We need to be seriously exploring a variety of new avenues. This one seems low risk, and would make a good anchor for a more aggressive NSF compiler technology investment portfolio.

>>SDSC’s on demand HPC

SDSC is trying something uncommon with HPC: allocated real-time access to support “event-driven” science. One example of how the system would be used is to support analysis in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake.

“When an earthquake greater than magnitude 3.5 strikes Southern California, typically once or twice a month, [Caltech computational seismologist Jeroen] Tromp expects that his simulation code will need to use 144 processors of the OnDemand system for about 28 minutes. Shortly after the earthquake strikes a job will automatically be submitted and immediately allowed to run. The code will launch and any ‘normal’ jobs running at the time will be interrupted to make way for the on-demand job.”

The 256 core Dell cluster has a peak performance of 2.4 TFLOPS.

The concept of real-time access to HPC isn’t new, but the missions that I’m aware of for these systems have either been as dedicated support systems — for example for live fire tests — application debugging, or scientific visualization.

The SDSC application is interesting, and I see demand for this kind of thing increasing over time. I’d like to see FEMA step up to fund regional- and national-scale computational disaster response and planning centers (think hurricanes, fires, floods, plagues and terrorist acts). When not responding interactively to disasters, the systems could be running planning scenarios for major risk areas around the country.

>>Chip advertising costs billions, not working so well?
 
Investor’s Business Daily is running a story about the money the chipmakers spend to get customers familiar with their wares. There are billions of dollars being spent, but a recent survey by research firm In-Stat found that branding in the chip industry isn’t working well.

“One finding: Consumers often know chip brand names such as Centrino and Opteron, but they don’t know that Intel makes Centrino and Advanced Micro Devices makes Opteron.”

And then they carelessly let their freakishly confusing codenames circulate for years in the press, further diluting their brands and so thoroughly confusing everyone it’s a wonder anyone can remember even the most basic facts about chip products.

The good news, though, is that Intel is on top of it.

” ‘Is there confusion over brand names? Definitely,’ said Donald MacDonald, Intel vice president for global marketing. ‘This isn’t new. We identified this problem many years ago.’ “

Excellent. So long as they’ve identified it, we’re all good to go. The full story is an interesting read (http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/070710/tech.html?.v=1).

—–

John West summarizes the headlines in HPC every day at insideHPC.com, and writes on leadership and career issues for technology professionals at InfoWorld and on his own blog at onlytraitofaleader.com. You can contact him at [email protected].

Subscribe to HPCwire's Weekly Update!

Be the most informed person in the room! Stay ahead of the tech trends with industry updates delivered to you every week!

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing power it brings to artificial intelligence.  Nvidia's DGX Read more…

Call for Participation in Workshop on Potential NSF CISE Quantum Initiative

March 26, 2024

Editor’s Note: Next month there will be a workshop to discuss what a quantum initiative led by NSF’s Computer, Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate could entail. The details are posted below in a Ca Read more…

Waseda U. Researchers Reports New Quantum Algorithm for Speeding Optimization

March 25, 2024

Optimization problems cover a wide range of applications and are often cited as good candidates for quantum computing. However, the execution time for constrained combinatorial optimization applications on quantum device Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at the network layer threatens to make bigger and brawnier pro Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HBM3E memory as well as the the ability to train 1 trillion pa Read more…

Nvidia Appoints Andy Grant as EMEA Director of Supercomputing, Higher Education, and AI

March 22, 2024

Nvidia recently appointed Andy Grant as Director, Supercomputing, Higher Education, and AI for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). With over 25 years of high-performance computing (HPC) experience, Grant brings a Read more…

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing po Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HB Read more…

Nvidia Looks to Accelerate GenAI Adoption with NIM

March 19, 2024

Today at the GPU Technology Conference, Nvidia launched a new offering aimed at helping customers quickly deploy their generative AI applications in a secure, s Read more…

The Generative AI Future Is Now, Nvidia’s Huang Says

March 19, 2024

We are in the early days of a transformative shift in how business gets done thanks to the advent of generative AI, according to Nvidia CEO and cofounder Jensen Read more…

Nvidia’s New Blackwell GPU Can Train AI Models with Trillions of Parameters

March 18, 2024

Nvidia's latest and fastest GPU, codenamed Blackwell, is here and will underpin the company's AI plans this year. The chip offers performance improvements from Read more…

Nvidia Showcases Quantum Cloud, Expanding Quantum Portfolio at GTC24

March 18, 2024

Nvidia’s barrage of quantum news at GTC24 this week includes new products, signature collaborations, and a new Nvidia Quantum Cloud for quantum developers. Wh Read more…

Houston We Have a Solution: Addressing the HPC and Tech Talent Gap

March 15, 2024

Generations of Houstonian teachers, counselors, and parents have either worked in the aerospace industry or know people who do - the prospect of entering the fi Read more…

Alibaba Shuts Down its Quantum Computing Effort

November 30, 2023

In case you missed it, China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba has shut down its quantum computing research effort. It’s not entirely clear what drove the change. Read more…

Nvidia H100: Are 550,000 GPUs Enough for This Year?

August 17, 2023

The GPU Squeeze continues to place a premium on Nvidia H100 GPUs. In a recent Financial Times article, Nvidia reports that it expects to ship 550,000 of its lat Read more…

Shutterstock 1285747942

AMD’s Horsepower-packed MI300X GPU Beats Nvidia’s Upcoming H200

December 7, 2023

AMD and Nvidia are locked in an AI performance battle – much like the gaming GPU performance clash the companies have waged for decades. AMD has claimed it Read more…

DoD Takes a Long View of Quantum Computing

December 19, 2023

Given the large sums tied to expensive weapon systems – think $100-million-plus per F-35 fighter – it’s easy to forget the U.S. Department of Defense is a Read more…

Synopsys Eats Ansys: Does HPC Get Indigestion?

February 8, 2024

Recently, it was announced that Synopsys is buying HPC tool developer Ansys. Started in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1970 as Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. (SASI) by John Swanson (and eventually renamed), Ansys serves the CAE (Computer Aided Engineering)/multiphysics engineering simulation market. Read more…

Choosing the Right GPU for LLM Inference and Training

December 11, 2023

Accelerating the training and inference processes of deep learning models is crucial for unleashing their true potential and NVIDIA GPUs have emerged as a game- Read more…

Intel’s Server and PC Chip Development Will Blur After 2025

January 15, 2024

Intel's dealing with much more than chip rivals breathing down its neck; it is simultaneously integrating a bevy of new technologies such as chiplets, artificia Read more…

Baidu Exits Quantum, Closely Following Alibaba’s Earlier Move

January 5, 2024

Reuters reported this week that Baidu, China’s giant e-commerce and services provider, is exiting the quantum computing development arena. Reuters reported � Read more…

Leading Solution Providers

Contributors

Comparing NVIDIA A100 and NVIDIA L40S: Which GPU is Ideal for AI and Graphics-Intensive Workloads?

October 30, 2023

With long lead times for the NVIDIA H100 and A100 GPUs, many organizations are looking at the new NVIDIA L40S GPU, which it’s a new GPU optimized for AI and g Read more…

Shutterstock 1179408610

Google Addresses the Mysteries of Its Hypercomputer 

December 28, 2023

When Google launched its Hypercomputer earlier this month (December 2023), the first reaction was, "Say what?" It turns out that the Hypercomputer is Google's t Read more…

AMD MI3000A

How AMD May Get Across the CUDA Moat

October 5, 2023

When discussing GenAI, the term "GPU" almost always enters the conversation and the topic often moves toward performance and access. Interestingly, the word "GPU" is assumed to mean "Nvidia" products. (As an aside, the popular Nvidia hardware used in GenAI are not technically... Read more…

Shutterstock 1606064203

Meta’s Zuckerberg Puts Its AI Future in the Hands of 600,000 GPUs

January 25, 2024

In under two minutes, Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, laid out the company's AI plans, which included a plan to build an artificial intelligence system with the eq Read more…

Google Introduces ‘Hypercomputer’ to Its AI Infrastructure

December 11, 2023

Google ran out of monikers to describe its new AI system released on December 7. Supercomputer perhaps wasn't an apt description, so it settled on Hypercomputer Read more…

China Is All In on a RISC-V Future

January 8, 2024

The state of RISC-V in China was discussed in a recent report released by the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The report, entitled "E Read more…

Intel Won’t Have a Xeon Max Chip with New Emerald Rapids CPU

December 14, 2023

As expected, Intel officially announced its 5th generation Xeon server chips codenamed Emerald Rapids at an event in New York City, where the focus was really o Read more…

IBM Quantum Summit: Two New QPUs, Upgraded Qiskit, 10-year Roadmap and More

December 4, 2023

IBM kicks off its annual Quantum Summit today and will announce a broad range of advances including its much-anticipated 1121-qubit Condor QPU, a smaller 133-qu Read more…

  • arrow
  • Click Here for More Headlines
  • arrow
HPCwire