From: HPCwire (hpcwire@tgc.com)
Date: Fri 16 Aug 2002 - 09:40:17 EEST
World's Fastest Linux Supercomputer to Bolster National Security Projects at
Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Linux NetworX System Expected to Rank Within Top 5 Fastest Supercomputers
This Fall
SALT LAKE CITY, July 15, 2002 - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
(LLNL) selected Linux NetworX to design, integrate and deliver what will be
the largest and most powerful Linux supercomputer by Fall 2002. Multiple
programs at LLNL will use the Linux NetworX EvolocityT clustered
supercomputer to support the Laboratory's national security mission. When
delivered, the Intel-based cluster is expected to be one of the five fastest
supercomputers in the world.
"A machine of this size is very complex to integrate and manage. The
partnership between Linux NetworX and LLNL is essential to the success of
this endeavor," said Dr. Mark Seager, LLNL's Asst. Dept. Head for TeraScale
Systems. "This Linux NetworX system will significantly expand the computing
resources available to Livermore's researchers. We are very excited about
the unclassified scientific simulations that will be accomplished on this
world-class Linux Cluster."
The Linux NetworX Evolocity cluster, when delivered to LLNL, will be the
fastest Intel-based or Linux cluster machine ever built, as it will harness
1,920 Intel® XeonT processors at 2.4 GHz with a theoretical peak of 9.2
teraFLOPS, or 9.2 trillion calculations per second.
"This Intel-based Linux NetworX system is historic in that it represents a
viable method of using standards-based technologies to create some of the
fastest supercomputers in the world," said Lisa Hambrick, director of
enterprise processor marketing for Intel. "Linux NetworX and Intel are
expanding the possibilities of supercomputing into a world where the fastest
machines are powered by cost-effective and very powerful Intel Xeon
processors."
Several factors enabled Linux NetworX to win this competitive procurement,
some of which include:
· Clustering expertise, http://www.lnxi.com/company/index.html, gained from
years of installing and supporting some of the largest clusters in the
world. Linux NetworX designed and delivered the world's first commercial
Linux cluster in 1997.
· LinuxBIOS, http://www.linuxnetworx.com/products/linuxbios.php, an open
BIOS alternative that can boot nodes in seconds, is remotely manageable and
is designed specifically for cluster systems.
· ICE BoxT, http://www.lnxi.com/products/icebox.php, a Linux NetworX
appliance designed specifically for management of Linux clusters, providing
system monitoring and control functionality such as power control and serial
access.
· Sub 1U EvolocityT II, http://www.linuxnetworx.com/products/e2.php, a
double-density node design with an innovative architecture. *Product to be
unveiled Fall 2002.
· Co-development of SLURM (Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management)
with LLNL, http://www.llnl.gov/linux/slurm/slurm.html. SLURM is an open
source resource management system developed for Linux clusters providing
scalability, portability, interconnect independence, fault-tolerance and
security.
"This Linux NetworX system is representative of the next stage in the
evolution of supercomputing," said Stephen Hill, Linux NetworX President and
CEO. "Clustering allows organizations to achieve results quicker, with far
greater flexibility at a lower cost-of-ownership than is possible with
competing technologies. This is why Linux clusters are rapidly becoming the
standard in high performance computing."
For a diagram of the system and more specific detail on the supercomputer
Linux NetworX is building for LLNL, visit
http://www.linuxnetworx.com/news/llnl_info.php.
Interesting Statistics:
· The Linux NetworX system will be seven times more powerful than Deep Blue,
the IBM computer that beat world chess champion Garry Kasperov in 1997.
· Compared to the average home PC, the Linux NetworX system will have the
same amount of processing power as 9200 PCs and can do in 1 day what would
take an average PC 25 years.
· The Linux NetworX system could assemble the human genome in 21 days,
compared to the 150 days it took the Compaq Alpha Cluster that Celera used.
· The Linux NetworX system will be able to hold the entire Library of
Congress in memory four times.
· The Linux NetworX system will be 4.6 times more powerful than the Sun
Enterprise(TM) render farm used by Pixar to create the movie Monsters Inc.
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