IBM Builds Blade Supercomputer for Spain

IBM said the "MareNostrum" system, built with 3,564 Power processors in eServer BladeCenter JS20 blade servers that run on the Linux operating system, performs at a level that will make it the most powerful system in Europe and one of the five fastest in the world. The supercomputer, which will have 4,564 Power processors when fully configured, attained performance of 20.53 trillion floating point operations per second (teraflops).

According to Yankee Group senior analyst Dana Gardner, two things -- innovation in vertically scaling systems larger and the use of standard hardware that keeps costs from matching performance -- are driving the supercomputing progress.

"The low cost [of hardware] and the innovation on vertical scaling and cooling are coming together," Gardner told TechNewsWorld. "It is giving us these benchmarks at prices people are willing to spend."

Super by Blade

IBM said MareNostrum -- to be used by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science on genome, protein, weather, pharmaceutical and other research -- marks the first time that blade server technology has been used to win a top 10 ranking among supercomputers.

The system, assembled at an IBM facility in Spain in less than two months, will be delivered to Politecnic University of Barcelona, where it is expected to be available for Spanish and international researchers in the spring of 2005.

"Scientists across varying disciplines can now tap incredible computing power to drive research breakthroughs that will lead the scientific community into a new age of research and innovation," said a statement from Brian Connors, vice president for Linux on Power at IBM.

Selling Speed

The Yankee Group's Gardner pointed out that while supercomputers represent "a tiny, tiny part of the market," manufacturers such as IBM, SGI, Japan's NEC (Nasdaq: NIPNY) and others are increasingly using the powerful systems as a sales vehicle.

"A lot of what we're seeing is flagship sports car marketing coming to computers," Gardner said. Companies "are tripping over each other in benchmarks and saying, 'By the way, this was built with the same hardware you can get for your business.'"

Gardner said the showmanship was being accompanied by wider access to the supercomputing idea. Companies may want to scale more horizontally to handle more users or more hits on their Web sites, but they can do so with the same scalability being used for supercomputing advances.

Supercomputing experts agreed that while issues of heat and manageability remain challenges, the supercomputing innovation and exponential speed increases are likely to continue.

Erich Strohmaier, a co-editor of the Top500 Fastest Supercomputer Site, told TechNewsWorld that companies and governments continue to invest in maintaining supercomputing advances, which have risen from levels of 12 teraflops a few years ago to today's leaps to 40- and 70-teraflop performance.

IBM Research vice president of systems Talik Agerwala said the use of low-energy, low-power processors and innovative interconnection technology, for example, would allow the progress to continue.

"I expect at the system level, performance will continue to grow rapidly," Agerwala told TechNewsWorld.

Study of Life

IBM and Spanish officials indicated MareNostrom would be applied primarily to research in the life sciences and healthcare areas. Some examples of the study planned with the supercomputer include researching the human genome, protein folding and other complex processes related to diseases such as Alzheimer's; atmospheric phenomenon and the evolution of climate; prediction and effects of natural disasters; and biodiversity and the balance of ecosystems.

"The supercomputer is a tool for the Spanish scientific community, making possible the development of projects that, until now, could only be conducted at international centers," said an IBM statement. "As a result, scientists will be able to devise and conduct much more ambitious projects, giving a dynamic boost to the Spanish scientific program."