13 December 2012

Time lapse of supercomputer construction

| johnboy
Join the conversation
19

If you like your iron big and local (and really who doesn’t) then this video posted by NCINationalFacility is for you:

The Fujitsu Primergy cluster high-performance supercomputer was constructed at the National Computational Infrastructure in late 2012. Located at The Australian National University, the machine has:

57,000 cores = 15,000 home PC’s
160 terabytes of RAM = 40,000 home PC’s
10 petabytes of hard disc = 10,000 PC hard drives
1,200 teraflops of peak computational performance = 5 months worth of calculations by 1 billion people armed with calculators, in just 1 second.
9 terabyes of network = 9 million home internet bandwidth connections

Debuting at #24 on the world in the Top500 list of best supercomputers, the HPC is constructed based on the technology developed for the ‘K’ computer in Japan, which was until recently the world’s fastest computer.

NCI’s advanced computing infrastructure is funded through programs of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, while its operations are sustained through the substantial co-investment by a number of partner organisations including ANU, CSIRO, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Geoscience Australia, a number of Australia’s research-intensive universities, and the Australian Research Council.

Fujitsu is the world’s third largest IT Services Company, and has over 40 years of history in developing Supercomputing technology.

screenshot

Join the conversation

19
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

p1 said :

tommo said :

And who is “the” supercomputing company? IBM?

If how well they can make my desktop at work run, no.

Either you’re actually thinking of Lenovo… or your IBM Desktop will be ancient!

Also, +1 for comments about shame we didn’t see subfloor being built. Also, the timelapse movie looks like it’s 10fps of photos taken every minute or so – that’s a bit lazy. It would have been nicer to see, say, full 25fps from a lot more frequent capture blurred in.. hope they didn’t pay the guys who made it much money!

gooterz said :

10 years time this computer will fit in your laptop

I don’t quite know about laptop, but did a comparison of my current work computer vs my one of 10 years ago. Yeah it’s memory capacity is roughly 32,000 times more, my hard drive capacity is roughly 1000 time more, so it’s very conceivable that this entire room will fit on my desk within 10 years…

Of course that fact doesn’t make this system any less cool.

btw I should say that I was referring to CRAY inc – The Supercomputer Company. (their motto, power phrase or whatever).
Not IBM.
cheers

Call that a server room? Where’s the piles of boxes/pallets/shit? And the mountain of empty energy drinks and chip packets?

I call shenanigans.

p1 said :

tommo said :

And who is “the” supercomputing company? IBM?

If how well they can make my desktop at work run, no.

absotively! give me apples or give me death. but no, they give me eye bee em clones, bleugh…

tommo said :

And who is “the” supercomputing company? IBM?

If how well they can make my desktop at work run, no.

tommo said :

goggles13 said :

interesting that the article doesn’t mention what the computer is going to be used for.

I think it is pretty clear that it will be used for research. Just read the second last paragraph of the OP again.

Pearlypops said :

So the ANU have bought a supercomputer from the third largest IT services company? I would have thought that one would purchase a supercomputer from “*the* supercomputing company”.

And who is “the” supercomputing company? IBM? Might I remind you that Fujitsu had the world’s largest supercomputer in the top 500 list from June 2011 to June 2012. They also have some of the most efficient computers on the list.

Might I remind you who is currently topping that 500 list?

The question isn’t who’s number 1 to any sane buyer.

It’s who can deliver the needed capability, and at what cost.

Paying a premium to run with the herd is a mug’s game.

goggles13 said :

interesting that the article doesn’t mention what the computer is going to be used for.

I think it is pretty clear that it will be used for research. Just read the second last paragraph of the OP again.

Pearlypops said :

So the ANU have bought a supercomputer from the third largest IT services company? I would have thought that one would purchase a supercomputer from “*the* supercomputing company”.

And who is “the” supercomputing company? IBM? Might I remind you that Fujitsu had the world’s largest supercomputer in the top 500 list from June 2011 to June 2012. They also have some of the most efficient computers on the list.

Pearlypops said :

So the ANU have bought a supercomputer from the third largest IT services company? I would have thought that one would purchase a supercomputer from “*the* supercomputing company”.

Possibly because, if it’s like their service offerings, it would be reminiscent of the collected and aggregated remains of a top 10 coprophiles collections.

wildturkeycanoe10:15 pm 13 Dec 12

Big deal, it didn’t show the construction of the floor, the running of all the 3 phase power supply cabling, the 48volt DC supply cabling, the backup UPS systems, the myriad of data cables and fiber that actually take all the information to and from the “super computer” that actually make it perform any purpose whatsoever, or the air conditioning system that keeps all this equipment running at operating temperature “roughly 23 degrees??”.
This is like watching a TV show where they rebuild a 350 Chev engine and leave it on an engine stand.
Boring!!!!

I. HATE. DATA. CENTRES. / COMPUTER. ROOMS.

(IMHO after spending the last 20 years in there)

10 years time this computer will fit in your laptop

So the ANU have bought a supercomputer from the third largest IT services company? I would have thought that one would purchase a supercomputer from “*the* supercomputing company”.

TIL there are companies that do time-lapses.

interesting that the article doesn’t mention what the computer is going to be used for.

cmdwedge said :

So what, we’re showing porn on RA these days?

Fwoar!

Mate…MATE, check out the racks on that one!

This is epic.

So what, we’re showing porn on RA these days?

Fwoar!

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.