GOVERNMENT

CHAMPAIGN, IL -- It's been up and running for about a month, but already NCSA's first large Linux cluster is the fastest cluster in the world, according to the latest edition of the Top500 supercomputers list. The cluster of 512 dual-processor Pentium III IBM eServer x330 thin servers ranked 30th overall on the list with a sustained performance level of 594 gigaflops and a peak performance level of just over 1 teraflop. An identical cluster owned by Shell Oil Company ranked just behind the NCSA cluster at 31. NCSA began setting up the Pentium III cluster, dubbed Platinum, in February, and the cluster was operational just in time to be considered for the June Top500 list. NCSA will set up a second 1 teraflop cluster—this one based on Intel's new Itanium processor—beginning in July. The Top500 list is compiled twice a year by Jack Dongarra, a researcher at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and an Alliance partner, and by Hans Meuer and Erich Strohmaier of the University of Mannheim in Mannheim, Germany. Performance rankings are based on the best Linpack benchmark performance achieved. For the complete Top500 list, see http://www.Top500.org For information on NCSA visit http://www.ncsa.edu