IBM's RS/6000 SP, Linux To Be Wed In Vista Azul Hypercluster Project.The ability of Linux to handle visual and scientific supercomputing tasks in a mixed OS environment will be put to the test in a new research effort at the University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM) is a public university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was founded in 1889. It also offers multiple bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degree programs in all areas of the arts, sciences, and engineering. called Project Vista Azul (Vista Blue). The project is a joint effort of IBM's RS/6000 group and UNM's High Performance Computing, Education, and Research Center (HPCERC HPCERC High Performance Computing Education & Research Center ). The project's goal is to integrate RS/6000 SP supercomputing systems (running AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive) IBM's Unix-based operating system which runs on its Intellistation workstations and pSeries, p5, iSeries and i5 server families. ) with Linux superclusters (A Linux supercluster su·per·clus·ter n. A group of neighboring clusters of galaxies. supercluster A large group of neighboring clusters of galaxies, along with isolated galaxies scattered between them, the entire collection is composed of off-the-shelf PCs or workstations running the Linux OS joined via high-speed interconnects.). Vista Azul will create a so-called "hypercluster" environment that will allow researchers (including UNM UNM University of New Mexico UNM UnumProvident Corporation UNM Under New Management UNM United Nations Medal UNM User Name Mapping students) to explore the optimal use of Linux for scientific applications, as well as to examine management strategies for hybrid clusters. "Our goal is to explore the boundaries of high-performance computing by connecting cutting-edge IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) deep computing technology with Linux clusters," said Rod Adkins, general manager of IBM RS/6000 unit. "We expect the hypercluster will enable researchers at UNM to pursue the solution of difficult problems in scientific and visual computing while also creating insight into interesting issues of interoperability between Linux and AIX clusters." The hypercluster hardware and software will include an AIX-based, SMP (Symmetric MultiProcessing) A multiprocessing architecture in which multiple CPUs, residing in one cabinet, share the same memory. SMP systems provide scalability. As business increases, additional CPUs can be added to absorb the increased transaction volume. RS/6000 SP system and a Linux-based, SMP Netfinity cluster, as well as an advanced networking infrastructure, parallel data storage, and a prototype Scalable Graphics Engine from IBM Research for use in visualization research. IBM officials say that building Vista Azul will require the development of advanced networking technology, new programming techniques for hybrid computational systems, and integrated concurrent visualization software. "We believe heterogeneous supercomputer clusters constitute an important trend in high-end technical computing," said Frank Gilfeather, director of the HPCERC at UNM. "The joint IBM and UNM effort is a critical step to this future." |
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