INTERCONNECTS

Force10 Networks today announced that it has aligned with its 10 Gigabit Premier partner T-Platforms to build the most powerful supercomputer in Russia at Moscow State University (MSU). The Force10 C-Series family of resilient switches and S-Series family of access switches deliver the resiliency and scalability MSU requires in its SKIF-GRID supercomputer to support peak performance of more than 60 Teraflops or 60 trillion calculations per second. “The rapid increase in computing power requires a network that can keep pace without impacting how data is analyzed and processed,” said Vsevolod Opanasenko, T-Platforms’ CEO. “Partnering with Force10 Networks gives us that diverse range of reliable, high density switches that we can utilize to design powerful clusters that are optimized for the different requirements of our customers.” T-Platforms, the leading supercomputer vendor in Russia, designed the cluster for the university, using the Force10 C300, S50 and S2410 switches to build a highly reliable, low latency interconnect for the supercomputer. The Force10 C300 and S50 switches form the core of the cluster, interconnecting 750 nodes in a low latency Gigabit Ethernet mesh. Connecting to the cluster via line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet, the Force10 S2410, a 24-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch with a switching latency of less than 300 nanoseconds, provides the rapid and predictable performance required to efficiently move data into and out of the cluster without impacting computing performance. “Next generation networking environments, including supercomputing, are benefiting from the continuing advancements in platform throughput and software features that enable faster processing capability and diagnostic tools,” said Stephen Garrison, vice president of marketing at Force10 Networks. “Moscow State University is leveraging the line rate, non blocking throughput of the C-Series to power its 10 Gigabit supercomputer to levels that now rank among the fastest in the world.” The supercomputer that Moscow State University has built will provide students, faculty and visiting researchers with the tools they need to rapidly process and analyze data and advance state-of-the-art research. According to the most recent Top500.org list of the world’s fastest supercomputers, Moscow State University ranked 36. It also ranked as the fastest in Russia.