IBM and SARA, the Dutch National High Performance Computing and e-Science Support Center, have signed a joint research collaboration agreement focused on petascale computing. The agreement allows for joint research in a number of areas to enable applications to run on next-generation petaflop supercomputers, and builds upon a long-standing relationship between SARA and IBM in the field of high-performance computing.
The currently deployed SARA Huygens cluster with IBM POWER 575 technology and an IBM POWER 755 test system will be used as major platforms to support the research. In particular, areas of research include scaling key applications in the Dutch research community to support a large number of cores, new programming tools, Linux system performance and tuning and energy efficient technologies - all essential for petaflop systems.
"Supercomputers are crucial for pioneering research that helps to find answers to major social issues," says Harry van Dorenmalen, country general manager, IBM Netherlands. "Cooperating with SARA will not only boost the endeavors of the research community in the Netherlands and beyond, but also help IBM continue its efforts to develop supercomputers capable of multiple petaflops and more."
An IBM supercomputer broke the petaflop barrier in 2008 and it is one of 100 Icons of Progress or top achievements in IBM's century-long history. For more information about IBM supercomputers, visit www-03.ibm.com/systems/deepcomputing.