[Shacs] [Fwd: HPCwire News Flash: World's
First Cell-BasedSupercomputer]
Peter Cooper
cooper at shsu.edu
Mon Oct 23 11:09:23 CDT 2006
Nate Elliott, senior analyst at JupiterResearch
"Consumers are twice as interested in audio than video," he said,
"and twice as interested in video than they are in games."
so is the tail wagging the dog?
On Oct 23, 2006, at 10:32 AM, Dathan Bennett wrote:
> I think it has a lot to do with the fact that for the last decade
> or so (basically, the era of the first-person shooter), video games
> have actually been driving the personal computing market.
> Realistically, video games are the only commonly-used consumer-
> oriented software that really pushes current hardware to its
> limits. And with modern computers as cheap as they are, game
> consoles have to be better than computers, or they wouldn't sell.
> The original Nintendo sold like mad, because even though it was
> inferior to the computers that were available at the time, it was
> cheaper, and not every home had a computer. These days practically
> every home that would consider buying a game console already has a
> computer, so the consoles have to be better just to establish a
> market. It's a brave new world.
>
> That having been said, I have a different observation:
>
> The article claimed it was the world's first cell-based
> supercompter. But later they described it as a cluster. And from
> the description, it definitely sounds like a cluster of independent
> units working together in parallel. So, is the age of the
> supercomputer over? Have Crays and the like been supplanted by
> clusters of commodity units running OpenMPI or Beowulf? I'm gonna
> say yes.
>
> ~Dathan
>
> Eric Keown wrote:
>> The Cell is a processor that was developed by IBM, Sony, and
>> Toshiba. It is best known as the processor inside the upcoming
>> Playstation 3, and is based on the Power PC processor architecture.
>>
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_microprocessor
>>
>>
>> So to answer your question a cell-based super computer would be a
>> super computer that relies on the Cell microprocessor.
>>
>>
>> On a side note, I think it really is amazing that the processors
>> that are being designed for the new video game consoles are
>> significantly more powerful than what is commercially available to
>> consumers when they launch. The Xbox 360 processor, for example,
>> has 3 processing core that all run at 3.2GHz, and the chip has
>> been out for almost a full year now around the time when dual
>> cores were showing up in home computers. It should be mentioned
>> that IBM also helped design Microsoft’s Xbox 360 processor as
>> well. I believe this would be the first time that the technology
>> used in video game consoles are ahead of the curve rather than
>> being behind it.
>>
>>
>> Eric
>>
>>
>> From: shacs-bounces at shsu.edu [mailto:shacs-bounces at shsu.edu] On
>> Behalf Of Bronius Motekaitis
>> Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 8:34 AM
>> To: SHACS
>> Subject: Re: [Shacs] [Fwd: HPCwire News Flash: World's First Cell-
>> BasedSupercomputer]
>>
>>
>> What's a cell-based super computer? (Burris asked me to ask the
>> list..)
>>
>>
>> On 10/9/06, Dr. Tim McGuire <mcguire at shsu.edu > wrote:
>>
>> Thought you all might find this interesting.
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>>
>> Subject:
>>
>> HPCwire News Flash: World's First Cell-Based Supercomputer
>>
>> Date:
>>
>> Mon, 9 Oct 2006 12:20:01 -0400 (EDT)
>>
>> From:
>>
>> HPCwire <hpcmore at news.hpcwire.com>
>>
>> To:
>>
>> mcguire at shsu.edu
>>
>>
>> Tomorrow, Terra Soft will officially announce the construction of
>> the world's first Cell-based supercomputing cluster. In the fall
>> of 2005, Terra Soft was contacted by Sony Computer Entertainment,
>> Inc. (SCEI) to develop and manage a supercomputing cluster built
>> upon the IBM Cell Broadband Engine and the Linux OS. This spring,
>> Terra Soft was contracted by Sony and in August completed the
>> construction of a 3000 sq-ft supercomputing facility capable of
>> housing 2400 1U systems. In this remodeled extension to the
>> Loveland, Colorado headquarters, Terra Soft will construct a test
>> cluster and a substantially larger production cluster, dubbed
>> "E.coli" and "Amoeba" respectively. Terra Soft will use the test
>> cluster "E.coli" to conduct advanced software development,
>> optimization, and testing with emphasis on Y-HPC and Y-Bio applied
>> to the Cell Broadband Engine. The production cluster "Amoeba" will
>> be made available to select University and Department of Energy
>> laboratories to further life sciences research. The clusters will
>> incorporate, in part, Cell-based PS3 systems. The Cell Broadband
>> Engine provides a "1 + 8" multi-core processing environment,
>> enabling optimized code to function at a superior level of
>> performance over traditional single or dual core CPUs. With all 8
>> cores on a single chip, the code processes do not lose performance
>> by dropping down to the memory bus as with historic, multiple CPU
>> configurations. Glen Otero, Director of Life Sciences Research for
>> Terra Soft Solutions explains, "This cluster represents a two-fold
>> opportunity: to optimize a suite of open-source life science
>> applications for the Cell processor; to develop a hands-on
>> community around this world-first cluster whereby researchers and
>> life science studies at all levels may benefit. Once up and
>> running with our first labs engaged, we will expand the community
>> through invitations and referrals, supporting a growing knowledge
>> base and library of Cell optimized code, open and available to
>> life science researchers everywhere." Lawrence Berkeley National
>> Lab is working with Terra Soft to optimize a suite of life science
>> applications. Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Labs are also
>> engaged, with select universities coming on-board early in 2007.
>> Terra Soft is working to optimize the entire Y-Bio bioinformatics
>> suite. Thomas Swidler, Sr. Director of Research & Development at
>> SCEI states, "This cluster is for Sony a means of demonstrating
>> the diversity of the PS3, taking it well beyond the traditional
>> role of a game box. While we are not in the business of competing
>> for the Top500.org nor building cluster components, this creative
>> use of the PS3 beta systems enables Sony to support a level of
>> real world research that may produce very positive, beneficial
>> results." Regarding Terra Soft's contribution to the project,
>> Swidler continued, "In working with Terra Soft, we found a single
>> source for the operating system, cluster construction tools, and
>> bioinformatics software suite. Again, their dedication to detail
>> and professional results has surpassed our expectations. We are
>> very eager for the completion of this initial phase in order that
>> the research may begin." Both clusters will run the new Yellow Dog
>> Linux v5.0 operating system; a beta version of Y-HPC v2.0, the
>> first commercial, cross-architecture Linux cluster construction
>> suite; the Moab cluster management suite by Cluster Resources; and
>> Y-Bio v1.1, a suite of gene sequence analysis tools soon to be
>> optimized for the Cell processor. Kai Staats, CEO of Terra Soft
>> offers, "Working to complete the cluster facility has been the
>> highlight of my time in this industry, a truly gratifying
>> experience. What we have accomplished this spring and summer
>> showcases the peak of our design, coordination, and engineering
>> effort ... from facility design and construction in July and
>> August to the cluster build-out in November and December -- our
>> best effort to date." The final cluster components are to arrive
>> early November with the cluster slated to be fully operational
>> with the close of the year. As a guest of IBM at the annual
>> Supercomputing 2006 (SC06) trade show, Nov 11-17 in Tampa, Terra
>> Soft will showcase Yellow Dog Linux v5.0, Y-HPC v2.0 beta, and Y-
>> Bio v1.1 on a small cluster of PS3s. More information about YDL, Y-
>> HPC, and Y-Bio are available at Terra Soft's website,
>> www.terrasoftsolutions.com. This story is also available on
>> HPCwire's website at: http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/967146.html
>>
>> -- Timothy J. McGuire, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Sam
>> Houston State University Huntsville, Texas 77341-2090 (936)
>> 294-1571 mcguire at shsu.edu http://www.shsu.edu/~csc_tjm/
>>
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>
>
> -- Dathan Bennett Network Administrator Center of Excellence in
> Digital Forensics Sam Houston state University Phone: 936-294-4847
> Fax: 936-294-4222 E-Mail: dathan at shsu.edu
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
Dr. Peter A. Cooper
Professor of Computer Science and Department Chair, Department of
Computer Science
Director, Center of Excellence in Digital Forensics
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX 77341
Ph: 936.294.1569
Fx: 936.294.4312
email: cooper at shsu.edu
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