VISUALIZATION

Heavyweights from the European computing sector came together recently to announce the launch of the TALOS alliance. TALOS is designed to spur innovation in European High-Performance Computing (HPC) solutions for large-scale computing systems. The alliance consists of major players in computing as well as nationally funded institutions, and its launch is expected to complement efforts associated with DG Research’s funding instrument, FP7. TALOS will encourage the development of more open and powerful technologies driving large-scale computing infrastructures and server networks. The TALOS alliance is comprised of the French Atomic Energy Authority (CEA); the German national High Performance Computing Center (HPC), Stuttgart (HLRS), a part of the University of Stuttgart; Bull, a leading European IT company; Quadrics, a member of one of Europe’s largest technology companies; and Intel, the world leader in silicon chip innovation. CEA and Bull have a successful track-record of developing computers with dizzying amounts of power. At the 2006 International Supercomputer Conference (ISC2006) held in Dresden, Germany, Tera 10, a supercomputer installed at the CEA developed on Bull servers and run with Intel processors, was ranked as the most powerful computer in Europe and the fifth most powerful in the world. Tera 10 is the fastest computer running on Linux, the open architecture software. At ISC2006, Michel Lepert, Bull’s General Manager of Products and Systems activities, commented on the use of open source software. "Tera 10’s position, as the number one supercomputer in Europe and fifth in the world, confirms Bull’s strategy to concentrate on industry-standard, open technologies," a sentiment that will continue to be true under TALOS alliance. TALOS will attempt to coordinate its research efforts in line with other current development strategies, in particular FP7, whenever possible. The alliance is designed as an open network of HPC players and hopes to grow by adding new members with the demands of the market. According to the alliance, its main objectives will be to meet the needs of large-scale computing systems in Europe and management of very high volumes of structured data.