A Dell supercomputing cluster at The University of Illinois` National Centre for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) was recognised today as the world`s fourth fastest supercomputer in the world, according to the bi-annual Top 500 list (www.top500.org).
The Top 500 List has emerged as the de facto source to determine the fastest supercomputers based on a benchmark that measures a systems sustained performance.
The total number of Dell systems on the list has increased to 18, reflecting the growing trend toward standards-based systems configured in high-performance computing clusters (HPCC) to address sophisticated computing needs in academia, laboratories and commercial organisations.
"NCSA`s achievement marks an important milestone for Dell and the industry - proving again that practically every area of computing can benefit from the performance and price of standards-based computing," said Tiny Maubane, Enterprise Product Manager at Dell South Africa. "We`ll continue to simplify and standardise technologies associated with HPCC to help make it more affordable and accessible to customers."
The 2 500-processor cluster at NCSA is being used to study the evolution, size and structure of the universe, investigating theories on the lifecycle of stars like the Sun, modelling severe storms, studying the human genome and biological processes, advancing the drug design process and more.
Redefining the computing elite
Dell`s ongoing innovation and standardisation efforts for HPCC have been key drivers in expanding the company`s presence on the Top 500 List (www.top500.org) of the world`s fastest supercomputers. Dell is the leading provider of Intel-based Linux technical clusters with 36.3% share worldwide, according to second quarter 2003 data from IDC. [1]
Clustered Intel-based systems now account for 37.8% of the list, up 14% in the six months since the list was last published. Dell`s 18 entries have a cumulative performance of 27.2 trillion floating-point operations per second (TFLOPS), more than double the 10.677 TFLOPS in the previous list. Eight Dell entries achieved performance of greater then a TFLOP.
The cluster at the University of Illinois is the highest-ranking Dell and the highest-ranking Intel-based system at number four with 9.819 TFLOPS performance. Other ranking Dell clusters include: Texas Advanced Computing Centre/University of Texas (25), University at Buffalo, State University of New York (37), Sandia National Labs (67), Cornell Theory Centre (68), University of Liverpool (86), Australian Centre for Advanced Computing and Communications (108), Compagnie Generale de Geophysique (112), Penn State University (142), Sandia National Labs (143), Penn State University (154), Dell (176), Boeing (225), University of Utah (248), University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston (260), Centre for Theoretical Biological Physics, University of California, San Diego (408), Gessellschaft fuer wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung (490) and MTU Aero Engine (500).
For more information on the Dell HPCC program, please visit: www.dell.com/hpcc.
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Dell Inc (Nasdaq: DELL) is a premier provider of products and services required for customers worldwide to build their information technology and Internet infrastructures. Company revenue for the past four quarters totalled $39.7 billion. Dell, through its direct business model, designs, manufactures and customises products and services to customer requirements, and offers an extensive selection of software and peripherals. Information on Dell and its products can be obtained at www.dell.co.za.
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