ACADEMIA

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in collaboration with the University of Colorado, has acquired an IBM Blue Gene supercomputer to simulate ocean, weather, and climate phenomena that impact agricultural output, heating oil prices and global warming. The IBM eServer, Blue Gene, has a peak performance of 5.7 teraflops (TF), with a single full rack system. With a footprint of less than one square meter, the system delivers more than ten times the performance of other supercomputers now on the market while occupying less floor space. The National Science Foundation, NCAR's primary sponsor, provided funding for the purchase of 1024 Blue Gene compute nodes. "Climate change research is one policy-relevant field driving a need for more powerful computers to process complicated models of the Earth system," says NCAR director Tim Killeen. "Improving weather forecasts, predicting toxic pollution flows, and space weather are other areas where faster, more efficient supercomputers like Blue Gene are essential for U.S. scientists to remain in the forefront of Earth science research." "For more than five years, IBM and NCAR have partnered to apply supercomputing power to NCAR's most demanding climate modeling challenges. We are pleased to announce this most recent addition to their computational stable, " said Dave Turek, vice president, Deep Computing, IBM. "Insight gained from the use of the Blue Gene system will advance both the state of the art in geoscience modeling and, based on user feedback, in IBM's supercomputer design efforts for the future. NCAR is indeed a valued IBM customer." NCAR's Blue Gene system will accelerate fundamental research in global climate change, weather prediction, wildfires, geoturbulence and other critical areas. IBM eServer Blue Gene facts and figures: * IBM eServer Blue Gene is available from 1 to 64 racks - 1024 dual-processor nodes per rack - Partially populated racks with fewer than 1024 nodes are also available to qualified customers * IBM eServer Blue Gene delivers a peak performance of 5.7 teraflops (trillions of calculations per second) per rack * IBM eServer Blue Gene yields 25 times more performance per KW than Earth Simulator * The system is more compact than the average supercomputer at 3ft. by 3ft. by 6ft for a 1 rack system In addition, IBM eServer Blue Gene can be leased or purchased with flexible financing provided by IBM Global Financing. IBM Global Financing can provide highly competitive rates that help customers control costs minimizing financial risk.