Computing

This section was written by Associate Editor Jean Thilmany
SUPERCOMPUTER UPGRADE
Cystorm, Iowa State University's second supercomputer, has a peak processing rate about five times that of the university's other super system, CyBlue, but giving up an idea of how fast computer power is advancing, Cytorm didn't make the cut for the current list of the top 500 computers in the world. CyBlue, on the other hand, was rated 99th in the world when it first booted up three years ago.
The new supercomputer, a Sun Microsystems machine, is capable of a peak performance of 28.16 trillion calculations per second. The supercomputer, which went online in August, will help Iowa State researchers advance their work in materials science, power systems, and systems biology.
"cystorm is going to be very good for data-intensive research projects," said Srinivas Aluru, the Ross Martin Mehl an Marylyne Munas Mehl Professor of Computer Engineering and the leader of the Cytorm project. "The capabilities of Cytorm will help Iowa State researchers do new research in their fields."
CyBlue, an IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer on campus since early 2006, uses 2,048 processors to do 5.7 trillion calculations per second. Cytorm has 3,200 processor cores, Aluru said.
The new machine also scores high on a test of actual running performance, using the same test that is used to rank the Top 500. It clocked in at 15.44 trillion calculations per second, compared to CyBlue's 4.7 trillion per second. That measure makes Cytorm 3.3 times more powerful than CyBlue, Aluru said.
Those performance numbers, however, do not earn Cytorm a spot on the current Top 500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers. The list, compiled by prominent researchers and issued twice a year, confers bragging rights on research institutions and manufactures, and serves as a tool to track trends in supercomputers. It is published online at www.top500.org.
No. 500 on the current list is an IBM BladeCenter HS21 cluster, operated by Financial Services in the U.K., with a peak performance of 37.64 trillion calculations per second. Its actual running performance, or Rmax, which determines the computer's world ranking, is 17.09 trillion calculations per second. No. 1 is the U.S. DOE's Roadrunner, an IBM BladeCenter QS22 cluster with an Rmax of 1,105 teraflops.