Partial 'Blue Gene' Systems Are Now Two of the Top Ten Most Powerful Supercomputers on Earth
June 21, 2004--For the first time, two IBM Blue Gene/L prototype systems appear on the Top 10 list of supercomputers. The Blue Gene/L prototype represents a radical new design for supercomputing. At 1/20th the physical size of existing machines of comparable power, Blue Gene/L enables dramatic reductions in power consumption, cost and space requirements for businesses requiring immense computing power. For a new architecture to produce so much compute power in such a small package is a stunning achievement, and provides a glimpse of the future of supercomputing.
The number four-ranked Blue Gene/L DD1 Prototype, with a sustained speed of 11.68 teraflops and a peak speed of 16 teraflops, uses more than 8,000 PowerPC processors packed into just four refrigerator-sized racks. This ground breaking system is only 1/16 of its planned final capacity and has skyrocketed to the 4th place from the 73rd spot on the list in November 2003. The eighth-ranked Blue Gene/L DD2 Prototype has a sustained speed of 8.66 teraflops and a peak speed of 11.47 teraflops. The DD2 system is based on the second generation of the Blue Gene/L chips, which are more powerful than those used in the DD1 prototype.
About IBM's Blue Gene Supercomputing Project
Blue Gene is an IBM supercomputing project dedicated to building a new family of supercomputers optimized for bandwidth, scalability and the ability to handle large amounts of data while consuming a fraction of the power and floor space required by today's fastest systems. The full Blue Gene/L machine is being built for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, and will have a peak speed of 360 teraflops. When completed in 2005, IBM expects Blue Gene/L to lead the Top500 supercomputer list. A second Blue Gene/L machine is planned for ASTRON, a leading astronomy organization in the Netherlands. IBM and its partners are currently exploring a growing list of applications including hydrodynamics, quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, climate modeling and financial modeling. Read more...
