Published on 15 Sep 2008
"We’ve always had a very strong collaboration with IBM." - Dr. Mats Nylén, lecturer at Umeå University and senior consultant at HPC2N
Customer:
Umeå University
Industry:
Computer Services, Education
Deployment country:
Sweden
Solution:
Deep Computing, Energy Efficiency, Enterprise Resource Planning, Optimizing IT, Unified Communications and Collaboration
Overview
Collaboration is a hallmark of research and education, especially at Umeå University, where a unique collaborative effort has led to the development and implementation of Akka, the fastest Windows®-based system in Europe.
Business need:
Built by IBM, Akka belongs to the High-Performance Computing Center North, or HPC2N, a national center for scientific and parallel computing located at the university. Partners of HPC2N include several universities and research institutes in northern Sweden who have joined forces to promote the use of high-performance computing (HPC) in industry and academia.
Solution:
Akka is a high-performance IBM BladeCenter® cluster that runs both Microsoft® Windows® HPC Server 2008 and Linux® operating systems. The system is made up of 672 IBM BladeCenter® HS21 XM blades running two Intel® Xeon® processors each. The system also includes four IBM BladeCenter JS22 blades running POWER6™ processors, and six IBM BladeCenter QS21 and QS22 blades running Cell Broadband Engine™ processors.
Benefits:
Akka achieves sustained performance of 46 teraflops, placing it at #39 in the June 2008 TOP500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers. With an efficiency rating of 85 percent, it uses far less energy than other supercomputers of its size, earning it the #16 spot in the June 2008 Green 500 list and making it the most power-efficient of all the HPC clusters in the TOP500. The Windows and Linux environments enable HPC2N to accommodate a broader range of research projects for their scientists.
Case Study
Collaboration is a hallmark of research and education, especially at Umeå University, where a unique collaborative effort has led to the development and implementation of Akka, the fastest Windows®-based system in Europe.
Built by IBM, Akka belongs to the High-Performance Computing Center North, or HPC2N, a national center for scientific and parallel computing located at the university. Partners of HPC2N include several universities and research institutes in northern Sweden who have joined forces to promote the use of high-performance computing (HPC) in industry and academia.
Reaching new scientists
Akka is a high-performance IBM BladeCenter cluster that runs both Microsoft® Windows HPC Server 2008 and Linux® operating systems. The system is made up of 672 IBM BladeCenter HS21 XM blades running two Xeon processors each. Efficiently organized in 48 chassis across 12 racks, these blades take up a small footprint in the HPC2N data center. Making up a smaller part of the system are four IBM BladeCenter JS22 blades running POWER6 processors, and six IBM BladeCenter QS21 and QS22 blades running Cell Broadband Engine™ processors. Cisco Infiniband switches provide high-speed interconnects.
What inspired the university to design and install a system like Akka, when Linux-based applications continue to dominate the supercomputing field? "The humanities and social sciences traditionally use Windows as their operating environment," explains Bo Kågström, a professor at Umeå University and the director of HPC2N. "Offering a Windows environment enables us to reach new scientists and new application areas."
Record-setting performance
Not only does Akka enable Windows-based research for users at HPC2N, it does so at record-setting speeds. LINPACK Benchmarks measured Akka at 46 teraflops of sustained performance, with bursts to 54 teraflops, putting Akka at #39 in the June 2008 TOP500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers. This ranking has brought HPC2N and Umeå University a new level of visibility in the academic HPC community, making the center even more attractive to researchers across Europe.
In addition to remarkable processing power, Akka also provides ample memory to accommodate the data requirements of HPC2N’s researchers, with 10 terabytes of RAM and over 110 terabytes of storage provided by an IBM System Storage™ DS4800 disk storage system.
Another significant benefit of the cluster is that it provides HPC2N with a level of energy efficiency that far surpasses that of comparable supercomputers, in part because each Xeon processor draws only 50 watts of power. Akka is ranked #16 in the June 2008 Green500 list, making it the most power-efficient of all the HPC clusters in the TOP500.
A strong collaboration
Throughout the implementation process, HPC2N worked very closely with IBM, Microsoft, Intel, and IBM Business Partner Gridcore to discuss options, gather requirements, and design the system. Gridcore also provided installation services.
"When we started the process, we had a blank slate," explains Dr. Mats Nylén, a lecturer at Umeå University and a senior consultant at HPC2N. "But we’ve always had a very strong collaboration with IBM, and when IBM was able to put together an offer with Microsoft, Intel, and Gridcore, we thought this was a really good option for us."
Future plans for the system include the use of the POWER6 blades in a cloud computing project for the EU’s RESERVOIR project, which IBM Haifa Labs is coordinating.
For more information
Contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner. Visit us at: ibm.com/systems/bladecenter
For more information about Gridcore, visit: www.gridcore.se
For more information about HPC2N, visit: www.hpc2n.umu.se
For more information about Umeå University, visit: www.umu.se
Components
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Hardware:
BladeCenter HS21 XM, Storage: DS4800
Operating system:
Linux
Legal Information
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2008 IBM Systems and Technology Group Route 100 Somers, New York 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America August 2008 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com , BladeCenter, POWER6, and System Storage are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol (® or ™), these symbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml Cell Broadband Engine is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both and is used under license therefrom. Intel and Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both. Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. IBM and Gridcore are separate companies and each is responsible for its own products. Neither IBM nor Gridcore makes any warranties, express or implied, concerning the other’s products. References in this publication to IBM products, programs or services do not imply that IBM intends to make these available in all countries in which IBM operates. Any reference to an IBM product, program or service is not intended to imply that only IBM’s product, program or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program or service may be used instead. Offerings are subject to change, extension or withdrawal without notice. All client examples cited represent how some clients have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. Performance data for IBM and non-IBM products and services contained in this document was derived under specific operating and environmental conditions. The actual results obtained by any party implementing such products or services will depend on a large number of factors specific to such party’s operating environment and may vary significantly. IBM makes no representation that these results can be expected or obtained in any implementation of any such products or services. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.
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