(11/21/08) - OpenCL (the Open Computing Language) is under development by the Khronos Group as an open, royalty-free standard for parallel programming of CPUs, GPUs, the Cell and other parallel processors. An update of the effort was presented at SC08 on Nov. 17.
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(11/20/08) - John West had a great conversation with Matt Reilly, chief engineer for SiCortex. Matt talked about what's going on with the SiCortex's low power, high density compute platform, and then he discussed the need for the computer science curriculum to include parallelism.
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(11/19/08) - Chapel is a high-level parallel programming language being developed by Cray for DARPA's High Productivity Computing Systems (HPCS) program. We asked Brad Chamberlain, the technical lead for the Chapel language project, to give us an overview of the language, the rational behind its design, and an update on the current state of the Chapel effort.
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(11/20/08) - InfiniBand has been a comfort zone for those tightly-coupled HPC applications that can't live without their addiction to low latency and high speed. If your application is a science experiment with good funding and no firm schedule, that's OK. If your application involves business, deadlines, and ROI, it's time to break out of that comfort zone and acquaint yourself with 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
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(12/9/08) - If you are familiar with current approaches to programming accelerators, you are either discomforted by the complexities, or excited at the levels of control you can get. Can we come up with a different model of GPU and accelerator programming -- a model that allows HPC programmers to focus on domain science instead of on computer science?
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(11/19/08) - John West talks with John Lee, vice president of advanced technology solutions for Appro; Steve Cumings, director of infrastructure for HP's Scalable Computing and Infrastructure Group; Morgan Littlewood, vice president of Violin Memory; Jim Falgout, chief technologist for Pervasive's DataRush; and Dave Ellis, director of HPC architecture for LSI, on the SC08 show floor. We also present our second Two-Option Audio Quiz.
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(11/19/08) - Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently unveiled the first petascale system dedicated to scientific research, a Cray XT machine with a theoretical peak performance of 1.64 petaflops. We talked with Doug Kothe, director of science at ORNL's National Center for Computational Sciences, about the challenges of and potential breakthroughs in science now possible with this built-for-science petascale system.
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(11/19/08) - At SC08 this week, Appro announced it had completed the final deployment of 38 teraflop Xtreme-X supercomputer for the ING Renault F1 Team. The new system lives in a brand new CFD facility, built for environmentally-friendly computing.
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(11/19/08) - A team led by Thomas Schulthess of Oak Ridge National Laboratory has broken the petaflop barrier with a supercomputing application likely to accelerate the revolution in magnetic storage. Using ORNL's upgraded Cray XT Jaguar supercomputer, the team was able to achieve a sustained performance of 1.05 petaflops for an application that simulates the behavior of electron systems.
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(11/19/08) - Researchers at Tohoku University in Sendai, north-eastern Japan, announced on Wednesday that they had broken a batch of performance records on their NEC SX-9 supercomputer, as measured on the HPC Challenge Benchmark test. Hiroaki Kobayashi, director the university's Cyberscience Center, said the SX-9 had achieved the highest marks ever in 19 of 28 areas the test evaluates in computer processing, memory bandwidth and networking bandwidth.
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(11/18/08) - Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell delivered the keynote address at the Supercomputing conference this morning in Austin, Texas, offering his perspective on where high performance computing is headed. We caught up with Dell shortly before the conference to get a preview of the keynote and to ask him about some of the hot-button issues that are driving the HPC industry today.
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(11/18/08) - New GPGPU computing platforms are in the works at NVIDIA and AMD. NVIDIA has partnered with a number of OEMs and system integrators to offer Tesla-equipped personal supercomputers, while AMD has released its most powerful GPU computing board, the AMD FireStream 9270, and has also partnered with Silicon Valley startup Aprius to offer a 9.6 teraflop GPU expansion chassis.
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(11/18/08) - This week Sun is announcing new Constellation wins at Sandia and Aachen University, which come on the heels of large announcements at Forschungszentrum Jülich slated for installation in 2009, the Korean Institute of Science and Technology Information system, and a system in Canada at the Ontario Cancer Biomarker Network.
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(11/18/08) - John West talks with Cray CEO Peter Ungaro, Sun Microsystems EVP John Fowler, and SGI SVP Dave Parry on the SC08 show floor. John also corners some randomly chosen exhibitors and attendees and gives them our Two-Option Audio Quiz.
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(11/17/08) - The HPC community has been dabbling with Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for several years now, but the technology has never reached escape velocity. But at SC08 this week, startup Convey Computer Corp. launched a new server and software stack that aims to tame FPGAs and deliver reconfigurable computing to everyday HPC users.
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(11/17/08) - Supercomputing legend Steve Wallach will be honored at SC08 with IEEE's Seymour Cray Award. HPCwire recently talked to Wallach about everything from the future of HPC to his philosophy on building a successful HPC business.
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(11/16/08) - After more than a year of planning, the 20th annual Supercomputing conference (SC08) kicks off on Monday in Austin, Texas. SC08's general chair, Patricia J. Teller, tells us what we can look forward to this week.
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(11/12/08) - Once a year, the leading experts from the world of high performance computing gather at SC to assess the current state of HPC and to look ahead to what the future holds. As the conference prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary, several industry thought leaders and long-time attendees reflect on what is most important to them.
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(11/10/08) - The annual Supercomputing (SC) conference is the most important gathering of high performance computing professionals in the United States. You'd like to make sure that your time there is well spent, but SC can easily overwhelm attendees. It is all too easy to end up wandering the show floor for three days with the vague sense that you're missing something.
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(11/10/08) - Sunday and Monday during the conference feature a wide range of informative tutorials and thought provoking workshops. These days before the conference begins in earnest can be a good time to settle in and make the transition from everyday work into a frame of mind where you can do something that is increasingly a rare activity: thinking strategically about how supercomputing and HPC fit into your business.
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(11/10/08) - Tuesday marks the first full day of the conference technical program. This year’s conference keynote will be given by Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell, Inc. Dell’s selection reflects both the changing face of the industry, and the conference’s location – Dell is headquartered about 20 miles north of Austin in Round Rock, Texas.
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(11/11/08) - Wednesday morning starts off looking at one of the most talked about visions of the HPC future to come on the scene in the recent past: Parallel Computing Landscape: A View from Berkeley. David Patterson, one of the report's principal authors, discusses A View in this invited talk.
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(11/12/08) - Thursday's examination of the large scale computations and technologies needed to support fusion science in "Simulation at the Petascale and Beyond for Fusion Energy Science" falls into both the Computing at Scale and Application Horizons themes and provides a view into one of the most pressing research areas of our time.
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(11/12/08) - Although the final day of the conference is always a half-day, it's often a half-day not to be missed, and this year is no exception.
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Special Commentary from SC08

Michael Feldman
What Caught My Attention at SC08
A show the size of the Supercomputing Conference is difficult to swallow whole. With hundreds of exhibitors and conference activities, it's virtually impossible to get a balanced perspective. That said, here are a few areas that caught my attention at SC08. Read more...

Michael Feldman
In a Photo Finish, Roadrunner Beats Jaguar
Last week's announcement of the upgraded "Jaguar" system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory had a lot of people, including yours truly, thinking that the Cray super would take the TOP500 crown this time around. It was not to be. Read more...

Michael Feldman
Supercomputing Puts On a Happy Face
Amid the gloomiest economy in decades, the year's Supercomputing conference -- SC08 -- got underway in Austin, Texas. Despite the worldwide financial turmoil, the 2008 conference may turn out to be the largest SC event of them all, with over 330 exhibitors and more than 10,000 registered attendees. Read more...

Michael Feldman
Packing for SC08
The 20th annual Supercomputing (SC) conference launches next week in Austin, Texas. As usual, HPCwire will be providing live coverage, but this year we decided to include some pre-conference guidance for the event. Read more...

Off the Wire from SC08

• Glimmerglass Supports New Records in Data Transfer Rates - (1/13/2009)
• Purdue's Steele Supercomputer Makes TOP500 List - (11/18/2008)
• SC08 Education Committee Announces Education Award Winners - (12/10/2008)
• Physics Team Sets Data-Transfer World Records - (12/9/2008)
• PNNL Researchers Earn Top Honors at SC08 - (12/3/2008)
• National Instruments Named Finalist in SC08 Analytics Challenge - (12/2/2008)
• Berkeley Lab Team Wins Gordon Bell Prize for Algorithm Innovation - (11/24/2008)
• Report Finds IBM Supercomputers Most Energy Efficient - (11/20/2008)
• 2008 Cluster Challenge A Success - (11/20/2008)
• Singing the Praises of High Performance Computing at SC08 - (11/20/2008)
• UIC Groups Win Bandwidth Challenge Award - (11/20/2008)
• ORNL Supercomputer Simulation Captures Gordon Bell Prize - (11/20/2008)
• SiCortex and Purdue University 'Break the Dam' - (11/20/2008)
• Yellow Dog Linux v6.1 Offers Advanced Cell Experience - (11/20/2008)
• Oak Ridge Supercomputer Wins Big at HPC Challenge - (11/20/2008)
• BLADE Spotlights 10GE Top-of-Rack Switch for IBM Gear - (11/20/2008)
• IBM Seeks to Build Computer Based on Insights From the Brain - (11/20/2008)
• Virtual SAN Solution Showcased at SC08 - (11/20/2008)
• Voltaire Announces WinOF 2.0 - (11/19/2008)
• NVIDIA Tesla Offered on HP Proliant Servers - (11/19/2008)
• NASA Selects DDN Storage for Pleiades Supercomputer - (11/19/2008)
• Altair Integrates PBS Professional w/ HP Cluster Management Utility - (11/19/2008)
• Cray to Deliver Tesla-Enabled CX1 Deskside Super - (11/19/2008)
• SGI Announces Enhanced Partner Program - (11/19/2008)
• NVIDIA, NEC Collaborate on GPU Computing - (11/19/2008)
• Shodor Announces New Web Site at SC08 - (11/19/2008)
• Argonne Wins 2 of 4 Awards in HPC Challenge - (11/19/2008)
• SGI HPC Cluster to Power Research in Belgium - (11/19/2008)
• NMCAC Brings Supercomputer to Darkstrand Network - (11/19/2008)
• LLNL Teams w/ Industry Leaders on Hyperion Project - (11/19/2008)
• Mellanox InfiniBand Accelerates Top Supercomputers - (11/19/2008)
• Panasas Chooses Fulcrum Chips for Clustered Storage Switch - (11/19/2008)
• ParTec to Deliver Cluster Management Software for JUROPA-II - (11/19/2008)
• Mellanox Demos 40Gb/s Networking Ecosystem - (11/19/2008)
• IBTA Rolls Out New Marketing Program - (11/19/2008)
• Los Alamos Supercomputer Remains Fastest in World - (11/18/2008)
• NASA Supercomputer Ranks Among World's Fastest - (11/18/2008)
• Microsoft Breaks Into Top 10 of TOP500 Supers - (11/18/2008)
• Wolfram Research Releases Mathematica 7 - (11/18/2008)
• Mellanox and Partners Demo Lustre File System at SC08 - (11/18/2008)
• IDRIS Chooses TotalView to Aid Application Development - (11/18/2008)
• OSC Executive Director Appointed Chair of CASC - (11/18/2008)
• Sun Announces New Open Storage Solutions at SC08 - (11/18/2008)
• Supermicro Demos 300+ GFLOPS/kW HPC Solutions - (11/18/2008)
• Obsidian Delivers Encrypted InfiniBand Link for NASA - (11/18/2008)
• Finisar Introduces 40 Gbps Parallel Active Optical Cable - (11/18/2008)
• Nallatech FPGA Accelerator Qualified for HP ProLiant Server - (11/18/2008)
• Arista Announces 10GbE Ecosystem - (11/18/2008)
• OSC's Ralph Regula School Receives Award at SC08 - (11/18/2008)
• Voltaire, Panasas Partner on Unified Fabric Storage Solution - (11/18/2008)
• Spectra Logic Releases BlueScale 10.5 for HPC - (11/18/2008)
• HP Takes Lead from IBM on TOP500 List - (11/18/2008)
• Voltaire Continues to Lead InfiniBand Deployments - (11/18/2008)
• Sandia, Jülich and RWTH Aachen University Select Sun - (11/18/2008)
• Extreme Networks Showcases 10GigE Solutions at SC08 - (11/18/2008)
• Avago Connects 40Gb/s InfiniBand Network at SC08 - (11/18/2008)
• Aprius Announces 80Gbps PCI Express Over Optics - (11/18/2008)
• NVIDIA Announces Tesla Personal Supercomputer - (11/18/2008)
• BOXX Personal Supercomputer Featured at SC08 - (11/18/2008)
• New Star-P Adds Mathematical Library Muscle - (11/18/2008)
• NVIDIA CUDA Increases Mathematica Performance - (11/18/2008)
• Networking Leaders to Develop 100 GbE Services - (11/18/2008)
• Ciena Exhibits 100G Innovation at SC08 - (11/18/2008)
• LSI Joins Hyperion Project at LLNL - (11/18/2008)
• NVIDIA Supports Lenovo GPU Computing Solution - (11/18/2008)
• Sun's Lustre File System Powers Top Supercomputers - (11/18/2008)
• Voltaire Powers Largest Windows Supercomputer - (11/18/2008)
• Mellanox Teams with LLNL on Advanced Cluster - (11/18/2008)
• HPC Sees Increased Democratization, Says Dell - (11/18/2008)
• Virginia Tech Partners w/ Apple and Mellanox on System G - (11/18/2008)
• Georgia Tech to Develop Center for Manycore Computing - (11/18/2008)
• Acumem Launches ThreadSpotter Analysis Tool - (11/18/2008)
• Parallel@Illinois Presents Multicore Vision for Human-Centric Computing - (11/18/2008)
• HPCwire Announces Annual Readers' Choice Awards - (11/17/2008)
• Roadrunner Keeps Top Spot on 32nd TOP500 List - (11/17/2008)
• Fujitsu Platform Creates Expressway for SCinet - (11/17/2008)
• Fulcrum's 'Monaco' Switch Improves Congestion Management - (11/17/2008)
• Tokyo Tech Boosts TSUBAME Super with GPUs - (11/17/2008)
• Convey Computer Launches Hybrid-Core Computer - (11/17/2008)
• Mitrionics Debuts Hybrid Computing Development Systems - (11/17/2008)
• IBM Maintains Top Spot on Supercomputer List - (11/17/2008)
• Oak Ridge Super Is the World's Fastest for Science - (11/17/2008)
• SGI Altix ICE Debuts at No. 3 on TOP500 List - (11/17/2008)
• Appro Completes Supercomputer for ING Renault F1 Team - (11/17/2008)
• Intel Chips Dominate in Fastest Supercomputers - (11/17/2008)
• AMD Dominates Top 10 Supercomputer Sites - (11/17/2008)
• New UT Supercomputer World's 15th Most Powerful - (11/17/2008)
• Mitrionics Announces Support for Hybrid Computing Development System - (11/17/2008)
• Chelsio Shows Complete Cluster Solution for $29,999 - (11/17/2008)
• SGI-Powered System to Fuel NASA Missions - (11/17/2008)
• Gennum Announces First Quad 10 Gb/s CDR - (11/17/2008)
• NAG Showcases HPC Expertise at SC08 - (11/17/2008)
• REvolution Computing Supports Windows HPC Server - (11/17/2008)
• SGI Delivers 'Visual Insight' at SC08 - (11/17/2008)
• SMC to Demo 10G Networking Solutions at SC08 - (11/17/2008)
• Mitrionics' Co-Founder Stefan Möhl to Present Seminar at SC - (11/17/2008)
• Acumem Joins Microsoft's HPC Partner Program - (11/17/2008)
• Luxtera Powers SCinet InfiniBand Network - (11/17/2008)
• LSI Enhances Engenio HPC Storage System - (11/17/2008)
• Fulcrum to Demo Converged 10GbE Network at SC08 - (11/17/2008)
• IU Cyberinfrastructure Showcased at SC08 - (11/17/2008)
• Adaptec Showcases Green Power Solution at SC08 - (11/17/2008)
• NAG Awarded Special Accolade at SC08 - (11/17/2008)
• CPU Tech to Exhibit Anti-Tamper Processing at SC08 - (11/14/2008)
• UC San Diego Goes 'Green' at SC08 - (11/14/2008)
• Purdue Announces SC08 Plans - (11/13/2008)
• Minnesota Supercomputer Institute to Showcase Research at SC08 - (11/14/2008)
• BLADE to Showcase 10GE Switch at SC08 - (11/14/2008)
• Zarlink Simplifies Datacenter Interconnect - (11/14/2008)
• Juniper Networks to Power "SCinet" at SC08 - (11/14/2008)
• RAID Inc. Unveils New Layered Storage Solution - (11/13/2008)
• Cluster Challenge Tests Endurance - (11/13/2008)
• LSI to Showcase Storage System at SC08 - (11/13/2008)
• X-ISS Announces Product Naming Contest - (11/13/2008)
• Infinera to Exhibit at Supercomputing 2008 - (11/13/2008)
• Clustercorp to Showcase New Products at SC08 - (11/13/2008)
• Woven Systems to Demo, Speak at SC08 - (11/12/2008)
• CCT to Demo University Research at SC08 - (11/12/2008)
• Georgia Tech Enters the Spotlight at SC08 - (11/12/2008)
• SC08 Workshop to Examine Path to Exascale - (11/12/2008)
• Argonne Supercomputer Uses DataDirect Storage - (11/12/2008)
• Violin Memory Delivers 4 TB Flash Appliance - (11/12/2008)
• 3Leaf to Demo Silicon-Enabled Virtualization at SC08 - (11/12/2008)
• ScaleMP to Demo Virtualization Solution at SC08 - (11/12/2008)
• Fulcrum, Ixia to Demonstrate FCoE at SC08 - (11/12/2008)
• Ethernet Alliance Celebrates Ethernet's 35th Anniversary at SC08 - (11/11/2008)
• Foundry Networks Powers SC08 Conference - (11/11/2008)
• siXis Intros Reconfigurable Computing Platform - (11/11/2008)
• Panasas to Showcase New Products at SC08 - (11/11/2008)
• Rogue Wave Attends Two Premier Conferences - (11/11/2008)
• Force10 to Participate in 10 GbE Forum at SC08 - (11/11/2008)
• LLNL Selects DataDirect for Scalable I/O - (11/11/2008)
• NEC, HLRS Agree on 'Hybrid Supercomputing Collaboration' - (11/10/2008)
• Game Lets Geeks Build Virtual Supercomputer - (11/10/2008)
• DataDirect to Demo Storage Solutions at SC08 - (11/10/2008)
• X-ISS to Preview Managed Service Offerings at SC08 - (11/10/2008)
• Sandia National Labs Selects SGI Storage System - (11/10/2008)
• NASA Showcases Science at SC08 - (11/7/2008)
• SC08 Bandwidth Challenge Showcases Global Visualcasting - (11/6/2008)