Archive for November, 2009

ETH Globe is Reporting About the Computing of the Future and HPC

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

ETH Globe – the quarterly magazine of ETH Zurich – is reporting about the computing of the future and HPC (No.4 / November 2009). Within a month both ETH Zurich (ETH Globe) and EPF Lausanne (Flash Informatique) report about HPC developments in Switzerland.

eth_globe_09_04_computing

“High Performance Computing” systems and supercomputers (HPC) are now a key technology for advanced research and the innovativeness of a country. HPC allows a deeper understanding and new solution models for highly complex phenomena from environment, climate, energy, health, and economy. With the growing importance of  supercomputers the demands placed on them are growing, too. The development following traditional ways will soon be reaching physical limits. The current edition of ETH Globe shows what supercomputers can do today, how they will become greener in the future, and how researchers from quantum and neuro-informatics sciences want to do everything differently.”

Here is a selection of the articles in ETH Globe:

  • Strategie – ETH-Präsident Ralph Eichler möchte Hochleistungsrechner grüner machen und mit Quanten nach der Zukunft greifen.
  • Nachhaltig zur Höchstform – Künftige Superrechner sollen immer mehr leisten und dabei Energie sparen. Herausforderungen und Lösungen aus Expertensicht.
  • Der Herr der Rechengiganten – Thomas Schulthess, Leiter des Schweizerischen Hochleistungsrechenzentrums CSCS, im Interview.
  • Das Kalkül mit den Zwitterteilchen – Mit vereinten Kräften ein Tor zur Zukunft öffnen: Wie sich ETH-Forscher dem Quantencomputer nähern.
  • Das Gehirn auf einem Chip – Evolution, Hirn und Schwarmverhalten: Forscher setzen auf die Natur als Vorbild für künftige Rechnergenerationen.
  • Direkt – Peter Waser, Microsoft Schweiz, und ETHAstrophysikerin Marcella Carollo: Wie ein Unternehmer und eine Wissenschaftlerin über das Computing der Zukunft denken.

Download ETH Globe as PDF(5.3 MB) »

Web-Page of ETH Globe »

Team with Prof. Schulthess (ORNL, Institute for Theoretical Physics and Swiss National Supercomputing Center) wins a Gordon Bell Prize for the second time in a row

Friday, November 20th, 2009

A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL’s) Markus Eisenbach and with Prof. Thomas Schulthess was named winner Thursday of the 2009 ACM Gordon Bell Prize, which honors the world’s highest-performing scientific computing applications.

This is the second time in a row that the research team of Prof. Thomas Schulthess wins the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize for supercomputing. The prize has been announced today, November 19 at the SC09 international supercomputing conference in Portland, Oregon.

gordon-bell-prize-jpg

The application developed by ORNL, Florida State University, and the Institute for Theoretical Physics and Swiss National Supercomputing Center achieved 1.84 thousand trillion calculations per second (1.84 petaflops)  using an application that analyzes magnetic systems and, in particular, the effect of temperature on these systems.

Read the official press release on HPCwire »

Paper presented at Supercomputing 2009 »

Top500: Switzerland Worldwide Third for Flops / Inhabitants

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

The 34th TOP500 List has been released November 17th in Portland, Oregon at the SC09 Conference. Switzerland has been able to improve its general placement in the list of the most powerful supercomputer worldwide.

top 500

For the first time since ever Swizerland has been able to place five system in the list with the following LINPACK performance peak:

  • Swiss Scientific Computing Center (CSCS)  168,7 TFlops
  • ETH Zuerich    51,8 TFlops
  • University of Zuerich    49,5 TFlops
  • Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne    47,7 TFlops
  • Geophysics Company    28,9 TFlops

for a total of 346,8 TFlops. Compared to the number of inhabitants this places at the third position worldwide and as the first in Europe (numbers are Gigaflops pro inhabitant):

  • New Zealand    54
  • United States    53
  • Switzerland    44
  • Sweden    32
  • Germany    27
  • Austria    26
  • United Kingdom    25
  • Finland     19
  • France     18

The good placement of Switzerland is a first result of the additional awareness for HPC and the first results of the implementation of the national HPC strategy (HPCN). Even if the placement is very good we have not to forget that Switzerland has one of the highest density of researchers worldwide at that the country is higly depending on the results of research for its prosperity.

Meeting of the hpc-ch delegation at sc09

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

The Swiss hpc-ch delegation did meet at the Supercomputin Conference 2009 in Portland, Oregon. After the initial meeting in Hamburg at ISC this has been rhe first get together. The Swiss representatives can be proud this year to present five systems listed in the top 500 list of the fastest supercomputer systems for a total of 346 teraflops (additional considerations on this öist will be published in a separate posting). The large number of Swiss representatives and good placement of their systems shows once again the importance HPC is getting in Switzerland.

See you at sc09 ?

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Just in a few days (November 14-20) the largest conference on hpc will start in Portland, Oregon. This is the greatest opportunity to get informed about the latest developments and trends on hpc.

sc09 Conference in Portland, Oregon

sc09 Conference in Portland, Oregon

As every year many professionals from Switzerland will attend the conference. This is great opportunity to meet together (quite away from home, I have to admit). All hpc-ch colleagues and friends from Switzerland are invited to meet for a beer or a cup of coffee and exchange the first impressions. Newcomer will have the chance to get introduced to the Do’s and Not Do’s of the conference and where to find the most suitable information and invitations to special presentations.

Stay tuned on this posting. On Friday or Saturday you will get more information.

And… visitors of the conference are kind invited to post their remarks (and pictures) about the conference.