The Weekly Top Five – 04/14/2011

By Tiffany Trader

April 14, 2011

The Weekly Top Five features the five biggest HPC stories of the week, condensed for your reading pleasure. This week, we cover Bull’s third petascale computing contract; IBM’s new POWER7 servers, the first hybrid spintronics computer chips, Bull and Whamcloud’s beefed-up Lustre support; and Tilera’s latest manycore development tools.

Bull to Provide Supercomputer for Fusion Research

The Paris-based Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) has selected Bull to provide a supercomputer for the International Fusion Energy Research Center (IFERC) in Rokkasho, Japan. The petaflop-class system will support advanced modeling and simulation in the field of plasmas and controlled fusion equipment. The contract marks the third time Bull will create a system with this level of performance.

From the announcement:

The new supercomputer is designed to be operational 24 hours per day. Its peak performance of almost 1.3 petaflops places it among the most powerful systems in the world. The computing components combine, within a “cluster” architecture, 4,410 blades bullx series B including 8,820 Intel Xeon processors of the “Sandy Bridge” type and 70,560 cores. The supercomputer is equipped with a memory exceeding 280 terabytes and a high bandwidth storage system of more than 5.7 petabytes, supplemented by a secondary storage system designed to support 50 petabytes. The connection network for the cluster is based on InfiniBand technology.

In addition to the above specs, 36 bullx series S systems and 38 bullx series R systems will be dedicated to the cluster’s administration, for management of the Lustre file systems and for user access. Bull will also provide 32 bullx series R systems including high-performance graphics cards for pre-and post processing and visualization. The high-end cluster will be equipped with the bullx supercomputer suite advanced edition, which was developed and optimized by Bull for petascale computers.

The installation process will begin in June. The supercomputer will be available to European and Japanese researchers for a period of five years, beginning January 2012. Bull will be responsible for the machine’s installation, maintainance and operation, and will receive support from local parter SGI Japan.

IBM Boosts POWER7 Systems

IBM has unveiled its latest POWER7 systems, including a performance bump to the Power 750, the server used in the famous Watson supercomputer. However, the new and improved Power 750 servers are even more powerful than the ones used in the Jeopardy-winning AI darling.

The new Power blades and Power servers will be used in mission-critical application areas, such as healthcare management, financial services, and scientific research. According to the release, “the specialized demands of these new applications rely on processing an enormous number of concurrent transactions and data while analyzing that information in real time.”

At the heart of the announcement are two new blades and two upgrades. The new blade servers, which IBM touts as providing an alternative to sprawling racks, include the two-socket (16-core), single-wide PS703, and the 32-core, double-wide PS704. Also debuting is the enhanced IBM Power 750 Express, like the one used in the Watson system. This server offers more than three times the performance of comparable 32-core offerings, such as Oracle’s SPARC T3-2 server, and more than twice the performance of HP’s Integrity BL890c i2. Last up is the enhanced IBM Power 755, a high-performance computing cluster node with 32 POWER7 cores and a faster processor.
 
A full accounting can be found in Editor Michael Feldman’s feature coverage. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll read:

Both the 750 and the 755 are four-socket Power7 servers that were introduced last year. The 750 is built for database serving and general enterprise consolidation/virtualization, while the InfiniBand-equipped 755 is aimed specifically at HPC users. The additional options on the 750 include new four-core and six-core Power7 CPUs running at 3.7 GHz, and two new eight-core Power7s running at 3.2 GHz and 3.6 GHz, respectively. The Power 755, which used to come only with 3.3 GHz chips, is now being outfitted with 3.6 GHz Power7s.

Why they didn’t offer an option for the faster 3.7 GHz Power7s on the Power 755 is a little mysterious. It seems like there would be some interest by HPC users that needed faster threads and a higher memory-to-compute ratio on certain applications.

OSU Lab Creates First Hybrid Spintronic Computer Chips

Ohio State University researchers have taken significant steps toward the creation of viable hybrid spintronic computer chips. The team developed the “first electronic circuit to merge traditional inorganic semiconductors with organic ‘spintronics’ — devices that utilize the spin of electrons to read, write and manipulate data.”

The group worked to combine an inorganic semiconductor with a unique plastic material being developed by OSU professor Arthur J. Epstein’s lab at Ohio State University. Epstein, a distinguished university professor of physics and chemistry and director of the Institute for Magnetic and Electronic Polymers at Ohio State, was the first to successfully store and retrieve data using a plastic spintronic device.

A paper published in the journal Physical Review Letter describes how the researchers were able to transmit “a spin-polarized electrical current from the plastic material, through the gallium arsenide, and into a light-emitting diode (LED) as proof that the organic and inorganic parts were working together.”

Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin, assistant professor of physics, examines possible uses for the technology:

If scientists could expand spintronic technology beyond memory applications into logic and computing applications, major advances in information processing could follow. Spintronic logic would theoretically require much less power, and produce much less heat, than current electronics, while enabling computers to turn on instantly without “booting up.” Hybrid and organic devices further promise computers that are lighter and more flexible, much as organic LEDs are now replacing inorganic LEDs in the production of flexible displays.

More work will need to be done before hybrid spintronics devices are ready for mass-production, but this hybrid circuit presents a good first step, one that lays the groundwork for future advances.

Bull, Whamcloud Extend Lustre Collaboration

A strengthened partnership with Whamcloud is enabling Bull to increase support and professional services for Lustre customers everywhere. Under the enhanced agreement, which builds on the duo’s existing technology partnership, Lustre users will “have access to Bull’s complete range of services starting from building scalable and highly available architectures, up to effective deployment and service level agreement (SLA) driven operations and support.”

Eric Monchalin, HPC software director at Bull, commented on the importance of parallel file systems for high performance computing HPC applications. Lustre is a high-performance, distributed open source file system used for large-scale cluster computing.

According to the release, the collaboration “enables Bull to leverage its long experience and deep knowledge in Lustre technology to provide validation and optimization of Lustre on Bull’s Extreme Computing bullx systems, integration with the bullx supercomputer suite HPC software stack, plus further development of Lustre’s administration and high availability functionality.”

European IT company Bull and venture-backed Whamcloud first announced a joint agreement for Lustre development in February. The team’s ultimate goal is to create a file system worthy of exaflop-class machines.

Tilera Tools Simplify Manycore Development Efforts

This week manycore chip specialist Tilera announced the release of its Multicore Development Environment (MDE) version 3.0, with enhancements aimed at simplifying manycore processor development.

From the release:

The new MDE is based on the recently released Linux 2.6.36 kernel, which integrates Tilera’s TILE architecture into the main Linux tree. The MDE includes cross compiling and native tool chains GCC 4.4, GDB 7.1, and GLIBC 2.11.2. The 3.0 MDE provides a full Linux distribution with over 1,000 Linux packages based on RHEL6 sources.

Support for Tilera’s architecture in the main Linux kernel creates many opportunities for open source developers to run their application on Tilera processors, the first manycore architecture to be supported by Linux. Tilera offers 64 cores today and up to 100 cores with the Tilera TILE-Gx family, coming later this year.

Linus Torvalds, founder and chief architect of the Linux kernel, was pleased with the news. “I am happy to have the TILE architecture in the kernel,” he said. ”Tilera provides innovative approaches for manycore processors.”

Tilera’s new software release includes both standard Linux and a GNU tool chain, helping users shorten development times. Tilera customers are able to use the same build infrastructure and make files, leverage the community’s resource and available software, and reduce the learning curve with standard tools and software environment.

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!

MLPerf Inference 4.0 Results Showcase GenAI; Nvidia Still Dominates

March 28, 2024

There were no startling surprises in the latest MLPerf Inference benchmark (4.0) results released yesterday. Two new workloads — Llama 2 and Stable Diffusion XL — were added to the benchmark suite as MLPerf continues 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 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…

MLPerf Inference 4.0 Results Showcase GenAI; Nvidia Still Dominates

March 28, 2024

There were no startling surprises in the latest MLPerf Inference benchmark (4.0) results released yesterday. Two new workloads — Llama 2 and Stable Diffusion 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…

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