The Leading Source for Global News and Information Covering the Ecosystem of High Productivity Computing
June 15, 2007
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Activates LLGrid
MIT Lincoln Laboratory (http://www.ll.mit.edu) has enabled its next generation LLGrid interactive/on-demand parallel computing system. This system was provided to Lincoln Laboratory via a DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) Distributed High Performance Investment in collaboration with Dell Computer, Inc. The LLGrid system consists of ~1500 InfiniBand connected processors, ~6 Terabytes of RAM and ~0.8 Petabytes of local disk/virtual memory.
Lincoln Laboratory will use this system to develop, prototype, and transition next-generation signal and image processing algorithms for DoD applications. A critical element of the algorithm development process is interactive test and refinement, which require interactive/on-demand access using high-level programming environments.
LLGrid supports 200+ users at Lincoln Laboratory, ~85 percent of whom run parallel MATLAB codes using the Lincoln Laboratory developed pMatlab library (http://www.ll.mit.edu/pMatlab) or The Mathworks developed Distributed Computing Toolbox (DCT).
An important LLGrid subsystem is the TX-2500, which consists of over 400 servers each with a full 6-drive RAID storage system. This provides ~0.8 Petabytes of local high bandwidth storage for sensor data. It also provides a unique experimental platform for testing next-generation parallel file system technology. Using the Lincoln Laboratory pMatlab XVM (eXtreme Virtual Memory) software, the entire storage can be treated as a single large global array of data enabling data sets as large as 50,000 x 50,000 x 50,000 grid elements to be processed. [Note: The TX-2500 is named in honor of the TX-0 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TX-0) developed at Lincoln in the 1950s, the world's first interactive high performance computing system.]
The DoD HPCMP-mandated acceptance test was conducted using the HPC Challenge benchmark suite (http://www.HPCchallenge.org). This benchmark suite is designed to stress a wide variety of parallel components: processor, memory, network bandwidth, and network latency. As part of the acceptance test, Lincoln Laboratory ran 170 variations using different processors and memory sizes. This baseline performance data is now publicly available at the HPC Challenge website.
This work was sponsored by the Department of Defense under Air Force Contract FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.
MATLAB and Distributed Computing Toolbox are registered trademarks of The MathWorks. Reference to commercial products, trade names, trademarks or manufacturer dots not constitute or imply endorsement.
MIT Lincoln Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center operated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a contract with the U.S. Air Force. Serving multiple sponsors, the Laboratory conducts advanced R&D for national defense, with particular emphasis on advanced electronics and transfers technology to both government and industry.
-----
Source: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Article Tools
Share Options
(Digg, Technorati, more)
Subscribe
Sponsored Links
New Paper: Parallel Computing Without Parallel Programming
Learn how domain experts can run VHLL programs like MATLAB® on a variety of high-performance platforms without low-level reprogramming and how to work with the largest datasets and complex algorithms without sacrificing ease of use or reducing productivity.
RSS Feeds
Feeds by Topic
- Applications
- Developer Tools
- Interconnects
- Middleware
- Networks
- Processors
- Storage
- Systems
- Visualization
Feeds by Industry
Feeds by Content Type
Feature Articles
Spider Up and Spinning Connections to All Computing Platforms at ORNL
Spider, the world's biggest Lustre-based, centerwide file system, has been fully tested to support Oak Ridge National Laboratory's new petascale Cray XT4/XT5 Jaguar supercomputer and is now offering early access to scientists.
Read More...
Wolfram Alpha: A Web-Based Application That Embraced Supercomputers
Wolfram Alpha, the Web-based computational engine introduced in May, is not a traditional supercomputing application, but relies on supercomputers to satisfy its unique requirements.
Read More...
TeraGrid '09: Student Participation Soars
There was a new energy at this year's TeraGrid '09 conference thanks to an outstanding turnout for the student program. Thanks to support from the National Science Foundation, more than 100 high school, undergraduate and graduate students were able to participate in the conference.
Read More...
Top Headlines
3D Seismic Data: Taking a Smarter Approach to Interpretation
Jul 09 | Engineer Live | The demand for computational tools to underpin the 3D seismic interpretation process has never been more apparent. Read more...
Engineering Unemployment Soared in 2Q to 8.6%
Jul 08 | EE Times | Unemployment for U.S. engineers has reached record levels, according to government figures. Read more...
Gartner Adjusts 2009 IT Spend Downward Again
Jul 08 | Network World | Global spending for 2009 projected to drop 6 percent, for a total of $3.2 trillion. Read more...
Concurrent and Parallel Are Not The Same
Jul 08 | Linux Magazine | Portability or efficiency? Neither is guaranteed when writing explicit parallel code. Read more...
800 TFLOP Real-Time Ray Tracing GPU Unveiled, Not for Gamers
Jul 07 | Ars Technica | Japanese company builds custom ASIC to accelerate real-time ray traced rendering for the auto industry. Read more...
Featured Whitepapers
Parallel Computing Without Parallel Programming
Jul 10 | | Engineers, scientists, and other domain experts depend on the productivity enabled by very high-level language (VHLL) tools like MATLAB® and Python. However, as datasets grow larger and programs get more sophisticated, ordinary desktop computers can no longer keep up. The paper explores how to run VHLL programs on high-performance platforms without low-level reprogramming. Work with large datasets and complex algorithms without sacrificing ease of use or reducing productivity.
Building High Performance Computing in a Green and Modular Solution Building Block
Apr 14 | | Many HPC IT departments are feeling the rising pressure to deliver more capacity computing and performance while trying to reduce the total cost of ownership. This white paper discusses how an environmentally-friendly and open-standards HPC building block based computing system using flexible interconnect options helps address capacity computing needs.
Multimedia
Webcast: Dell Expands HPC Access and Adoption with Intel Cluster Ready Program
Source: Addison Snell, GM/VP, Tabor Research; sponsored by Dell
Many organizations that could benefit from the use of HPC clusters find that it is complicated to get the systems up and running because of limited IT resources or the complexities of the clusters themselves. Learn how the Intel Cluster Ready program, for which Dell was an original partner, seeks to address this challenge for entry level and mid-range HPC users.
Video White Paper: Architecting a Better Network Storage Solution
BlueArc's Titan architecture represents an evolutionary step in file servers by creating a hardware-based file system that can scale bandwidth, IOPS, and overall data capacity well beyond conventional software-based devices. With its ability to virtualize a massive storage pool of up to four usable petabytes of tiered storage, Titan can scale with growing data requirements, offering a competitive advantage for businesses, researchers, or other enterprises seeking to better manage data growth while still ensuring optimal performance.
Webcast: HPC Development Solutions: Sun Studio & Sun HPC ClusterTools
Sun Studio Compilers and Tools and Sun HPC ClusterTools allow you to create high performance parallel applications for OpenSolaris, Solaris and Linux. Sun Studio Express 11/08 includes MPI performance analysis capabilities and full OpenMP 3.0 compiler support. Learn about all this and the latest in Sun HPC ClusterTools 8.1.
Newsletters
Stay informed! Subscribe to HPCwire email Newsletters.
HPC Job Bank
-
HPC Systems Administrator
McGill University -
High Performance Computing Systems Administrator
Idaho National Laboratory -
Solution Engineer- HPC
Dell Inc -
Parallel Programmer
Cardiff University -
Principal Software Research Engineer
Indiana University -
Post Doctoral Researcher - Exascale Stream Computing
IBM - Visit the HPCwire Job Bank
Featured Events
-
July 13-16, 2009
WORLDCOMP'09
Las Vegas , NV
USA
-
August 24-28, 2009
Data Mining: Levels I, II, & III
Denver , CO
USA