CRESCO: Centro computazionale di RicErca sui Sistemi COmplessi Where the World Stands on Supercomputing

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CRESCO Centro computazionale di RicErca sui
Sistemi COmplessiWhere the World Stands on
Supercomputing

• Prof. Jack Dongarra
• University of Tennessee
• and
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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Powerful Beyond Imagination

• Suppose you had a problem that was 100 meters
  long and the faster you could go from start to
  finish the faster you could
• Divert the outbreak of a deadly plague, or
• Find ways to combat global warming, or
• Build a lighter, faster aircraft
• Imagine that when you crossed the finish line you
  would understand a complex biological process so
  well that you would be able to
• Cure a disease or
• Extend live itself

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Today

• Corporations, universities and governments from
  around the world are lining up for the race of
  the century.
• Its a race to solve some of the most complex
  problems anyone has ever considered.
• Being first across the finish line not only
  determines who gets rich and who doesnt, but
  perhaps who lives and who dies.

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The Third Pillar of 21st Century Science

• Three pillars
• theory, experiment and computing
• Supercomputers enables us to
• Investigate phenomena where economics or
  constraints preclude experimentation
• Evaluate complex models and manage massive data
  volumes
• Model processes across interdisciplinary
  boundaries
• Transform business and engineering practices

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Supercomputing Drives Business Competitiveness

• Reducing design costs through virtual prototyping
• Reducing physical tests for faster time to market

Image courtesy of Pratt Whitney
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Supercomputing Drives Business Competitiveness

• Complex aerodynamic components for its car
  designed with the aid of a Supercomputer
• Using computational fluid dynamics computations
  to simulate airflow around parts to aid downforce
  and aerodynamics and to improve the efficiency of
  engine and brake cooling.

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Weather and Economic Loss

• U.S. economy 13 Trillion
• 40 can be adversely affected by weather and
  climate
• 1M in loss to evacuate each mile of coastline
• We now over warn by 3X!
• Average over warning is 200 miles, or 200M per
  event
• Improved forecasts
• Lives saved and reduced cost

Source Kelvin Droegemeier, Oklahoma
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Changing Competitive Environment

• Companies are facing serious global competitive
  challenges than in the past
• Industry can no longer compete on traditional
  cost and quality terms
• The ability to create new value and innovate will
  determine competitive advantage
• Supercomputing
• is a key ingredient in ones innovation capacity,
  productivity, growth and ultimately, our standard
  of living.

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H. Meuer, H. Simon, E. Strohmaier, JD -
Listing of the 500 most powerful Computers
in the World - Yardstick Rmax from LINPACK
MPP Axb, dense problem - Updated twice a
year SCxy in the States in November Meeting in
Germany in June - All data available from
www.top500.org
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Top500 Systems November 2007
478 Tflop/s
7 systems gt 100 Tflop/s
Rmax (Tflop/s)
21 systems gt 50 Tflop/s
149 systems gt 10 Tflop/s
5.9 Tflop/s
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Supercomputer Performance Development
My Laptop
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Where the 500 Most Powerful Computers Are
Distributed
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Industrial Use of Supercomputers

• Aerospace
• Automotive
• Biology
• CFD
• Database
• Defense
• Digital Content Creation
• Digital Media
• Electronics
• Energy
• Environment
• Finance
• Gaming
• Geophysics
• Image Proc./Rendering
• Information Processing Service
• Information Service
• Life Science
• Media

• Of the 500 Fastest Supercomputer
• Worldwide, Industrial Use is about 50

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Italian Computers in the Top 500 (November 2007)
Rank Site Manuf Year Procs
48 CINECA IBM 2007 5120
71 CINECA IBM 2007 10240
180 ENEA IBM 2007 2560
247 Energy Company IBM 2007 2048
248 Energy Company IBM 2007 2048
264 CINCEA HP 2006 1024
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Performance Development Projections
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Performance Development Projections
1 Gflop/s
1 Eflop/s
1 Tflop/s
O(106)Threads
O(103) Threads
O(1) Thread
O(109) Threads
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The Supercomputing Continuum
Tightly Coupled
Loosely Coupled
Highly Parallel
Clusters
Grids
Special Purpose SETI / Google

• Each strikes a different balance
• computation/communication coupling
• Applications for diverse needs
• More than just providing faster solutions, more
  complex, larger, superior accuracy in what we are
  studying.

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Supercomputing Powerful Beyond Imagination

• Supercomputers are indispensable
• for solving complex problems in every
• sector, from traditional science and
• engineering to business.
• From the design the cars we drive and the
  aircraft we fly in, to find and help extract new
  energy sources, to forecast severe weather, and
  to discover new life-saving medicines.