Communications of the ACM
Ibm's Power Play: New Supercomputer Called Fastest Ever
IBM has won a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to build what it says will be the world's fastest computer. The next-generation supercomputer, dubbed the Sequoia, is expected to go online in 2011 and run at 20 petaflops, 15 times faster than the fastest computers available today.
"These powerful machines will provide NNSA with the capabilities needed to resolve time-urgent and complex scientific problems, ensuring the viability of the nation's nuclear deterrent into the future," says NNSA's Thomas D'Agostino. "This endeavor will also help maintain U.S. leadership in high-performance computing and promote scientific discovery." Eventually, businesses and other researchers will be able to use the machine, and similar systems, to research a variety of topics, ranging from new oil deposits to virtually crash-testing cars.
A prototype supercomputer called Dawn is scheduled to be delivered in the next few months to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dawn will run at 500 teraflops and will help create the foundation for Sequoia's applications. Sequoia will require much less space than current supercomputers and use less power. "This advance makes really powerful computing eligible to fall into the hands of many industrial companies, as well as academic and government users who are the traditional early adopters of supercomputers," says IBM's Dave Turek. "The energy consumption component of Sequoia is extraordinarily innovative."
From Investor's Business Daily
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