Stephen Withers
Friday, 15 August 2008 09:29
Science -
Energy
Page 1 of 2
The University of Toronto is set to become home to the largest - though perhaps not the fastest - supercomputer outside the US.
An IBM iDataPlex system incorporating more than 4000 servers using x86 and POWER6 processors will be installed by the SciNet Consortium comprising the University of Toronto and associated teaching hospitals. It will be one of the first systems to use Intel 'Nehalem' processors which are scheduled for introduction in early 2009.
The system will be 30 times faster than the fastest computer currently running in Canada, and will be used for research in areas including climate change, fundamental physics, aerospace and medical imaging.
SciNet's new supercomputer will provide a significant contribution to the analysis of data from the Large Hadron Collider.
"SciNet will have one of the best facilities in the world that will allow Canadian physicists to participate in the adventure of the Large Hadron Collider," said Pierre Savard, a member of the Canadian group working at CERN, Geneva. "This research may change our view of matter and the universe."
The new system is expected to be one of the 20 fastest supercomputers in the world when it is ready for use in the northern summer of 2009. The current top 20 includes 10 IBM systems, and 10 located outside the US (Germany, India, France, Sweden, Japan and the UK).
Wondering who is footing the bill? The answer is on
page two.
