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Russia Joins the Supercomputer Race


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The Russian Academy of Sciences is one of several entities in Russia developing a petaflops-scale supercomputer.

Credit: Associated Press

The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) is building a supercomputer that it says will have a capacity of 10 petaflops, which would make it the most powerful in Russia. Even before the new system is completed, the supercomputer will surpass the current most powerful computer in Russia, the Lomonosov, which has a capacity of 1.7 petaflops.

"It is the beginning of the era of 10-petaflops computers. We are absorbing and utilizing the technology," says Boris Shabanov, deputy director of RAS' Joint Supercomputer Center. "Our goal is to complete the first two elements by the end of the year, and then the technology will make it possible to upgrade its capacity to 10 petaflops within a reasonable time — over the next year — provided there is adequate investment."

Shabanov notes that energy efficiency will be a key feature of the new supercomputer, and when finished it will be one of the most energy-efficient machines in the world, ranking second in the Green 500 supercomputer rating. The system's energy efficiency "is achieved with the help of the unique cooling system and cutting-edge x86 coprocessors," Shabanov notes. When fully operational, the supercomputer is expected to be one of the 10 fastest in the world.

From Izvestia
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Abstracts Copyright © 2012 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA


 

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