LARGEST-EVER SCALABLE LINUX TEST BED FOR OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT DEBUTS.512-CPU Linux Cluster Built By Argonne Lab With Help From VA Linux, 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) Corp. The US Dept. of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory, research center, based in Argonne, Ill., 27 mi (43 km) SW of downtown Chicago, with other facilities at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, 50 mi (80 km) W of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Founded in 1946 by the U.S. is working with IBM Corp. and VA Linux Systems to build "Chiba City" -- the largest supercomputing cluster yet dedicated to highly scalable open source software development. The 512-CPU Linux cluster will be open to the US research community, including universities, laboratories and industry. The Chiba City project, conceived by Argonne's Mathematics and Computer Science Div., will create Argonne's most powerful supercomputer. The project will help advance the use of state-of-the-art Linux clusters based on low-cost, industry standard components in high-performance computing High-speed computing, which typically refers to supercomputers used in scientific research. . The cluster comprises 256 2-CPU computational servers from VA Linux, and IBM Netfinity servers for cluster management, file storage and visualization. The Chiba City cluster provides a flexible development environment for scalable open source software in four key categories: cluster management, high-performance systems software (file systems, schedulers and libraries), scientific visualization scientific visualization Process of graphically displaying real or simulated scientific data. It is a vital procedure in the creative realization of scientific ideas, particularly in computer science. , and distributed computing (1) The use of multiple computers networked throughout a wide geographical area, or the world via the Internet, in order to solve a single problem. See grid computing. (2) The use of multiple computers in an enterprise rather than one centralized system. . Construction was planned and managed by engineers from Argonne and VA Linux Professional Services, with support from VA and IBM's cluster hardware and software experts. VA Linux also provided cluster management technology and certified new high-performance Linux drivers for the gigabit ethernet cards and graphics cards used in the scalable cluster. According to Remy Evard, manager of advanced computing and networking in Argonne's Mathematics and Computer Science Div., "Linux clusters are attractive for their price and performance, but more importantly, Linux and open source tools enable our community to work together to tackle large-scale systems software challenges." "Argonne's Chiba City is a milestone in large-scale Linux systems design, and demonstrates the flexibility and scalability of VA's ClusterCity architecture," adds Larry Augustin, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of VA Linux. "Chiba City will help advance open source projects such as VACM VACM View-based Access Control Model (SNMP) VACM Vector Averaging Current Meter VACM Virus Alerts for the Common Man VACM Vacuum Assisted Compression Molding , the VA Cluster Manager, and will benefit the community immensely." The Chiba City effort is sponsored primarily by the Dept. of Energy Office of Science. The project gets its name from the futuristic "Chiba City" in William Gibson's science fiction novel, "Neuromancer." Argonne supports basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines ranging from high-energy physics to climatology climatology Branch of atmospheric science concerned with describing climate and analyzing the causes and practical consequences of climatic differences and changes. Climatology treats the same atmospheric processes as meteorology, but it also seeks to identify slower-acting and biotechnology. It is operated by the University of Chicago as part of the Dept. of Energy national laboratory system. VA Linux Systems is a leading provider of Linux-based solutions and services. |
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