Archives for July 2013

How to Tune Application IO Patterns

Over at Admin HPC, Dell’s Dr. Jeff Layton writes that the programming language you choose to use affects I/O patterns and performance. To illustrate, he tracks a simple write I/O pattern with C and looks at how to improve performance. I’ve written articles in the past about I/O patterns and examining them using strace. This […]

Beware of IOPS without Context

Over at the StorageIO Blog, Greg Schulz writes that when it comes to benchmarking, IOPS are not a really a valid measure of performance by themselves and without context. IMHO the most interesting or applicable metrics that matter are those relevant to your environment and application. For example if your main application that needs SSD […]

OpenMP 4.0 Spec Adds Support for DSPs, Real-time systems, and Accelerators

Today the OpenMP Consortium released the OpenMP API 4.0, a major upgrade of the OpenMP API standard language specifications. Besides several major enhancements, this release OpenMP extends its reach beyond pure HPC to include DSPs, real time systems, and accelerators. The OpenMP API aims to provide high-level parallel language support for a wide range of […]

ANU Deploys Fastest Supercomputer in Australia

The Australian National University (ANU) has deployed a 1.2 Fujitsu PRIMERGY cluster at the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) performance computing centre. As the fastest supercomputer in Australia, the $26 million “Raijin” is named after the Japanese god of thunder and will be used for climate research. Advanced computational methods form an increasingly essential component of […]

Video: Minerva Supercomputer a Powerful Weapon Against Disease

In this video, Dr. Joel Dudley describes how researchers are using the Minerva supercomputer at Mount Sinai Hospital to harness data, spot trends, and prevent disease.

Should the National Labs be Reinvented for the Exascale Era?

Over at The Exascale Report, Mike Bernhardt writes that the future of U.S. competitiveness depends on HPC leadership, and we need the National Labs to get the country back on top. Exascale, and eventually zettascale, require long- term, dedicated research. Success will depend on collaboration among the labs’ researchers, shared experiences and results, along with […]

Slidecast: Diablo Memory Channel Flash Technology is Big Memory for Less

Imagine what you could do with a Sandy Bridge server with 3.2 Terabytes of memory–at flash prices. In this slidecast, Kevin Wagner from Diablo Technologies describes the company’s new Memory Channel Flash Solution. Diablo leveraged its extensive experience in advanced memory channel interfaces and protocols to deliver a system architecture that directly attaches persistent memory […]

Interview: Simplifying HPC with the IBM Very Large Memory Appliance

IBM recently rolled out what they are calling a Very Large Memory Appliance based on ScaleMP software. To learn more, I caught up with ScaleMP’s CEO, Shai Fultheim. insideHPC: What is the IBM Very Large Memory Appliance and what is the problem it is designed to solve? Shai Fultheim: IBM is addressing environments and applications […]

Rutgers Selects Xyratex for HPC Storage Powered by Lustre

Today Xyratex announced that its new ClusterStor 1500 solution has been selected by Rutgers University to support its growing HPC needs. We chose the ClusterStor 1500 by Xyratex for its new HPC cluster, an Intel-based system using Infiniband, because it is a cost-effective, high-performing system from a vendor with significant experience implementing and supporting such […]

Nvidia Acquires The Portland Group to Double Down on HPC

Over at the Nvidia Blog, Ian Buck writes that Nvidia has acquired The Portland Group (PGI), the well-known independent supplier of compilers and tools. Up until now, The Portland Group was a wholly-owned subsidiary of semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics, who acquired PGI back in December 2000. Founded in 1989, PGI has a long history of innovation […]