Nadine Taylor, Andy Russell
IBM POWER Parallel Division
(914) 766-2458/9230
The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) announces that it has installed a powerful new computer -- an IBM RISC System/6000* Scalable POWERparallel Systems * SP2. As a valuable supercomputing resource for universities and businesses across Ohio, OSC's goal is to provide its users with the best computing technology available. The IBM parallel computer joins an already impressive array of high-performance parallel and vector/parallel computing platforms available at the Center.
OSC provides researchers across Ohio with a diverse set of high-performance computing platforms, such as parallel processing, vector supercomputing and visualization tools. This enables the Center to "match" user needs with the most effective platform for the job. "We selected the SP2 largely because of its ability to use a high-speed switch to interconnect the processors, and the assignment of disk units to individual nodes in order to optimize parallel I/O," said Al Stutz, OSC's associate director.
A number of interesting projects have already been targeted for the SP2 at OSC. Combustion engineers at the Center plan to develop software codes for the IBM SP2 that will enable them to solve advanced combustion problems on the SP2's parallel platform. These studies will be of particular interest to members of Ohio's coal industry. In addition, OSC employees developing parallel Fortran applications will use the SP2 to beta test a new High Performance Fortran (HPF) compiler. The HPF development team is looking forward to having OSC's application developers evaluate its HPF beta compiler.
"We're extremely pleased that the Ohio Supercomputer Center has selected an IBM POWERparallel system to enrich the computing resource offered to users throughout the state," said Irving Wladawsky-Berger, general manager, IBM RS/6000 Division. "OSC is at the forefront of many challenging research and commercial projects, and the SP2 is at the forefront of high-performance parallel computing. Together, that's a winning team."
The SP2 can run several numeric-intensive and data-intensive projects across different processors -- which will allow different users across the state to use the SP2 at the same time -- or handle a single project quickly by distributing the calculations equally across its available processors. IBM RS/6000 SP systems can also be easily upgraded to step up capacity and performance as workload or application requirements increase. In doing so, computing power increases in direct proportion to the number of processors added.
Since 1987, OSC has been advancing the use of high-performance computing and communications resources. OSC positions Ohio universities and industries at the forefront of scientific research, development and engineering.
* Indicates trademark or registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
