{"id":32384,"date":"2012-10-29T07:01:09","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T07:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=32384"},"modified":"2012-11-19T23:32:13","modified_gmt":"2012-11-19T23:32:13","slug":"oak-ridge-national-laboratory-debuts-titan-supercomputer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/oak-ridge-national-laboratory-debuts-titan-supercomputer\/","title":{"rendered":"Oak Ridge National Laboratory Debuts Titan Supercomputer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"left\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n                                                          google_ad_client = \"pub-7021221536180758\"; \/* 468x60, created 11\/11\/09 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"1949837292\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\n\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Supercomputer combines gaming and traditional computing technologies to provide unprecedented power for research<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-size: small;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">OAK RIDGE, Tenn. \u2013 The U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)\u00a0launched a new era of scientific supercomputing today with Titan.\u00a0 That means that\u00a0Titan is positioned\u00a0to\u00a0take the title as the fastest supercomputer\u00a0in the U.S. and the world&#8217;s Number 1 Open Science computer.\u00a0 Titan will provide unprecedented computing power for research in energy, climate change, efficient engines, materials and many other\u00a0fields\u00a0while paving the way for\u00a0new achievements in science and technology.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ORNL.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-32398\" title=\"ORNL\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ORNL.jpg?resize=387%2C256\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ORNL.jpg 387w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ORNL-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 387px) 100vw, 387px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This is more than just headlines. Titan\u2019s impact will be a dramatic breakthough in scientific computing as it is a\u00a0system capable of\u00a0making more than 20,000 trillion calculations each second or over 20 petaflops &#8211; by using Nvidia Kepler graphics\u00a0processing units (GPUs)\u00a0first created for computer gaming.\u00a0 Titan\u00a0is\u00a0ten times more powerful than ORNL\u2019s last system, Jaguar, while fitting in the same physical space and using a similar power envelope as the old system.\u00a0 As it is, Titan is expected to cost $38 million a year in electricity usage.<a href=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2012-P02849.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-32403\" title=\"2012-P02849\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2012-P02849.jpg?resize=300%2C112\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2012-P02849-300x112.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2012-P02849.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Basically ORNL is performing a supercomputer upgrade\u00a0as their\u00a0Jaguar supercomputer the size of a basketball court has been transformed into Titan in the same space. ORNL\u00a0has\u00a0upgraded from Cray\u2019s XT5 compute blades to their XK6 compute blades, which use hybrid chipsets comprised of AMD Opteron CPUs and Nvidia Tesla K20 GPUs. Early application benchmarks demonstrated that the XK6 is yielding performance improvements ranging from 50 percent to 230 percent compared with the XT5.<a href=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Kray-XK7-nodes.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-32390\" title=\"Kray-XK7-nodes\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Kray-XK7-nodes.jpg?resize=480%2C206\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Kray-XK7-nodes.jpg 800w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Kray-XK7-nodes-300x129.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In February 2012, each of Jaguar\u2019s 18,688 Cray XT5 compute nodes was replaced with a new Cray XK6 compute node that consists of one AMD 16-core Opteron 6274 processor running at 2.2 GHz, 32GB of DDR3 memory, and Cray\u2019s new high performance Gemini network. The upgraded Jaguar system has a total of 299,008 AMD Opteron CPU cores, more than 700 terabytes of memory, and is connected to the 240 GB\/s Spider file system.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Tesla_GK110_K20_3Qtr_NCovr.jpg?resize=300%2C224\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>14,592 of Titan\u2019s nodes, 78 percent of the total compute nodes,\u00a0was just\u00a0upgraded by adding Nvidia Tesla K20\u00a0\u201cKepler\u201d GPU application accelerators each\u00a0with 6 gigabytes of high speed memory.\u00a0 These\u00a0Kepler-accelerated nodes are\u00a0in place\u00a0well in advance of\u00a0Nvidia&#8217;s\u00a0commitment\u00a0to do so\u00a0by January 1, 2014. This leaves 4,096 XK6 compute nodes remaining without an accelerator and available to users throughout 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Users of Titan will continue to have access to the Spider file system, with 240 GB\/s data bandwidth and over 10 PB of storage capacity.\u00a0Spider will be upgraded\u00a0next year\u00a0to increase both bandwidth and capacity.\u00a0 Users will also have access to the HPSS data archive, LENS data analysis and visualization cluster, and the newly upgraded EVEREST high resolution visualization facility. All of these resources are available through high performance networks including ESnet\u2019s recently upgraded 100 gigabit per second links.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Power Consumption Challenges<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Amazingly, the new system not only occupies the same space as the old system, but it consumes only marginally more power for it&#8217;s ten times performance improvement.\u00a0 One challenge in supercomputers today is power consumption and by combining GPUs and CPUs in a single system requires less power than using\u00a0CPUs alone.\u00a0 Discoveries that may\u00a0take weeks on a system as powerful as Jaguar may now only\u00a0take days on Titan.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Supercomputers\u00a0have revolutionized science.\u00a0 Before they existed, researchers\u00a0came up with\u00a0theories and then they carried out experiments.\u00a0 Supercomputing gives researchers and scientists\u00a0a\u00a0third way &#8211; computer modelling.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Researchers\u00a0still begin with\u00a0a theory but we now can build a computer model to see if it works before even attempting physical experiments.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-32387\" title=\"Research-change\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Research-change.jpg?resize=480%2C257\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Research-change.jpg 800w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Research-change-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Because they handle hundreds of calculations simultaneously, GPUs can\u00a0run many more calculations\u00a0than CPUs in any given time. By\u00a0using\u00a0Titan&#8217;s 299,008 CPU cores\u00a0while allowing its new Nvidia GPUs to do ninety percent of the work, Titan will enable researchers to run scientific calculations with much\u00a0greater speed and accuracy than with Jaguar.<a href=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GPU-CPU.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-32388\" title=\"GPU-CPU\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GPU-CPU.jpg?resize=450%2C209\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GPU-CPU.jpg 450w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/GPU-CPU-300x139.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Just upgrading Jaguar to Titan &#8211; increasing the performance tenfold &#8211; by using CPUs only, would require ten times the electrical power &#8211; and Oakridge cannot afford a $380 million dollar annual electricity bill.\u00a0 Using the GPU allows them to increase the performance tenfold while only increasing power consumption less than 15%!<\/p>\n<h3><strong>An &#8220;Open&#8221; System<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Titan will be made available to scientists in various fields. One program will tackle climate change and how\u00a0increasing gas emissions might affect it. Another program will study the way fuel burns in engines to find ways of\u00a0radically improving\u00a0efficiency.\u00a0\u00a0Yet another researcher has already had <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bnl.gov\/newsroom\/news.php?a=23199\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.bnl.gov\/newsroom\/news.php?a=23199', 'two million hours of Titan&#8217;s processing power awarded to focus on folding proteins']);\" >two million hours of Titan&#8217;s processing power awarded to focus on folding proteins<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 This will enable researchers to design more effective medicines.<a href=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Apps.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-32394\" title=\"Apps\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Apps.jpg?resize=480%2C280\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Apps.jpg 800w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Apps-300x174.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tackling the world&#8217;s energy challenges is high on the list. Scientists are also\u00a0looking forward to busing Titan\u00a0for calculations that may\u00a0bring sustainable fusion technology.\u00a0 Improving nuclear energy reactors is another possibility.<\/p>\n<p>Titan will be open to select projects while ORNL and Cray work through the process for final system acceptance.\u00a0Most of the\u00a0access to Titan will come from the Department of Energy\u2019s Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment program, better known as INCITE.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers have been preparing for Titan for\u00a0over two years, with many ready to\u00a0go on day one.\u00a0\u00a0 There is an insatiable demand for using Titan &#8211; the demand exceeds the time awarded by over three times.\u00a0 Far more supercomputers are needed.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>\u00a0The Future<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Future.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-32396\" title=\"Future\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Future.jpg?resize=480%2C283\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Future.jpg 800w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Future-300x177.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>All the charts and most of the pictures are courtesy of Nvidia.\u00a0 They are quite proud of their accomplishment in changing the face of supercomputing with the GPU.\u00a0 This editor was priviliged to attend and report on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=29692&amp;all=1\">Nvidia&#8217;s GPU Technology Conference (GTC 2012)<\/a>\u00a0back in May.\u00a0 This annual conference is devoted to GPU programming which includes supercomputing applications.\u00a0 Look at the ABT report for Nvidia&#8217;s complete vision and their plans for 2013 and beyond.\u00a0 You will also find a multi-page discussion of the Kepler architecture there and its uses for GPU computing and especially as it relates to scientific research.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/JensenOnStage.jpg?resize=360%2C270\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>Nvidia uses part of the money they make from consumer GPU sales as video cards to leverage research and development of their professional brands, Tesla and Quadro.\u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/AfterKey-cloud.jpg?resize=288%2C194\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>In return, the knowledge gained from the professional market helps Nvidia to develop their gaming GPUs as the calculations for graphics and for scientific applications all benefit from the same\u00a0massive parallel processing power of the GPU.\u00a0 Basically, the same GPUs we game on are being used in a revolutionary way to benefit all of us in the world of supercomputing.<a href=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/TitanCabs_10-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-32400\" title=\"TitanCabs_10-3\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/TitanCabs_10-3.jpg?resize=480%2C171\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/TitanCabs_10-3.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/TitanCabs_10-3-300x106.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Happy Gaming!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><p>Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Become a Fan on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142', 'Facebook']);\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech', 'Twitter']);\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the latest updates from ABT, please <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Folding@Home &#8211; 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