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| Leadership Computing | ||||
| Argonne Leadership Computing Facility Dedicated | ||||
| The Argonne National Laboratory celebrated the dedication of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) during an April 21st ceremony at the lab. Argonne operates the ALCF for the DOE Office of Science as part of the larger DOE Leadership Computing Facility strategy. DOE leads the world in providing the most advanced civilian supercomputers for science. | ||||
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| "I am delighted to see this realization of our vision to bring the power of the Department's high-performance computing to open scientific research," said DOE Under Secretary for Science Dr. Raymond L. Orbach. "This facility will not only strengthen our scientific capability but also advance the competitiveness of the region and our nation." Early results run the gamut from determining the origins of the universe and dark energy, to better understanding the molecular mechanism of Parkinson's disease to help focus the search for treatment ("Modeling the Molecular Basis of Parkinson's Disease," SciDAC Review, Winter 2007, p52). They are exciting examples of what's to come. | ||||
| Dr. Orbach, Dr. Patricia Dehmer, the DOE Office of Science Deputy Director for Science Programs, and Dr. Michael Strayer, the DOE Associate Director of Science for Advanced Scientific Computing Research, attended the ALCF dedication, along with Congresswoman Judy Biggert (figure 1). | ||||
| Argonne continues to be a leading force in high-performance computers. Two years prior to the establishment of the ALCF in 2006, Argonne and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory began working closely with IBM to develop a series of computing systems based on IBM's Blue Gene platform. Argonne and IBM sponsor the international Blue Gene Consortium to share expertise and software for the IBM Blue Gene family of computers. | ||||
| Argonne started with a small Blue Gene/L in early 2005, and the newest Blue Gene/P system has a performance capability of 556 teraflops. Key strengths include a low-power, system-on-a-chip architecture that dramatically improves reliability and power efficiency. The Blue Gene systems also feature a scalable communications fabric enabling science applications to spend more time computing and less time moving data between CPUs. Together with DOE's other Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has deployed a large Cray supercomputer, computational scientists have platforms that provide capabilities for breakthrough science. | ||||
| "The ALCF has tremendous computing ability, making it one of the country's pre-eminent computing facilities," said Argonne Director Dr. Robert Rosner. "The research results generated by the ALCF will be used to develop technologies beneficial to the U.S. economy and address issues that range from the environment and clean, efficient energy to climate change and healthcare." |
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| Further Information Blue Gene Consortium http://www.bgconsortium.org/
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| Published by IOP Publishing in association with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for the US Department of Energy, Office of Science. Copyright © 2008 by IOP. | ||||
