Editor’s Choice

• Report: Security Firm Says HPC Clusters under Attack: ‘Level of Sophistication Rarely Seen in Linux Malware’

  

  This is an updated version of a story first publised on Feb. 1. UK technology industry publication PCR published a story today stating that an international data security firm, ESET, has reported the identification of a malware called Kobalos that targets supercomputing clusters. They also said they have been working with security experts at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research and other organizations on stemming attacks. “Among other targets was a large Asian ISP, a North American endpoint security vendor as well as several privately held servers,” PCR reported.

• Reading the Intel Tea Leaves: Pat Gelsinger’s HPC Paradox

  

  As he takes charge of Intel, CEO Pat Gelsinger faces a paradox: his new company is both troubled and a revenue geyser; if Intel is to continue its historical growth rates, he’ll need the skills of a corporate turnaround artist. These contradictions surely apply to Intel’s position in HPC/AI/data center server processors, where the company is both dominant and under siege from innovative, agile competitors cutting into the company’s 90+-percent market share. In HPC, the company is omnipresent, yet its recent failures at the upper reaches of supercomputing have been high-profile embarrassments. At the product level, the company drives innovation [READ MORE…]

• HPC Predictions 2021: Quantum Beyond Qubits; the Rising Composable and Memory-Centric Tide; Neural Network Explosion; 5G’s Slow March

  

  Annual technology predictions are like years: some are better than others. Nonetheless, many provide useful insight and serve as the basis for worthwhile discussion. Over the last few months we received a number of HPC and AI predictions for 2021, here are the most interesting and potentially valid. Let’s check in 12 months from now and see how many, along with our wish for a speedy pandemic end, come true. Quantum’s Lack of Clarity “Although it seems counterintuitive, the progress made in quantum hardware development over the next year may lead to more uncertainties within the quantum industry rather than [READ MORE…]

• Where Have You Gone, IBM?

  

  The company that built the world’s nos. 2 and 3 most powerful supercomputers is to all appearances backing away from the supercomputer systems business. IBM, whose Summit and Sierra CORAL-1 systems set the global standard for pre-exascale supercomputing, failed to win any of the three exascale contracts, and since then IBM has seemingly withdrawn from the HPC systems field. This has been widely discussed within the HPC community for at least the last 18 months. In fact, an industry analyst told us that as long ago as the annual ISC Conference in Frankfurt four years ago, he was shocked when [READ MORE…]

• Hats Over Hearts

  

  It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Rich Brueckner. His passing is an unexpected and enormous blow to both his family and the HPC Community. In his coverage of the HPC market, he was tireless and thorough. What Rich brought to the table was a deep curiosity about computing and science, and the people that made the two happen.