Armonk (NY) – IBM today announced the second generation of its BlueGene supercomputer technology. The system will scale to a performance of 3 PFlops, which more than 10 times the performance than today’s fastest supercomputer in operation.

So, let’s get right to the point: What exactly does it take to achieve 1 Petaflop (PFlop)  of performance (which translates into one quadrillion calculations per second) ?

In the case of BlueGene/P, you will have to order a system with 72 racks with 32 boards each. Every board will carry 32 PowerPC 450 CPUs with four processor cores each. In case you have been counting, such a Petaflop installation will translate into a total of 73,728 CPUs or 294,912 cores. IBM said that the technology will be able to hit 3 PFlops with 221,184 CPUs or 884,736 processors in 216 racks.

BleueGene/P is based on the PowerPC 450 processor which is clocked at 850 MHz, up from 700 MHz in the preceding BlueGene/L. IBM will install 2 GB of SDRAM per node.

Despite its sheer processing power, the manufacturer labels BlueGene/P as a “green design”. IBM said that the supercomputer was “purpose-built to fit in smaller spaces and use less electricity compared to other commercially available designs.” Additionally, IBM claims that the Blue Gene/P supercomputer is at least seven times more energy efficient than any other supercomputer.

Of course, in supercomputer terms, energy efficiency is a relative term due to the massive power consumption of such a system. IBM says that a 1 PFlop system will consume about 2.9 megawatts, the equivalent of the power consumption of 2900 homes. A 3 PFlop system runs at about 8.7 megawatts. This number does not include the power consumption of a necessary cooling system that will keep BlueGene/P at its required operating temperature.

However, even less elaborate BlueGene/P system will be able to deliver a processing horsepower that rivals many supercomputer installations today. One rack with a power consumption of 40 kilowatts is rated at a performance of 13.9 TFlops, which would be enough to place such a system on position 40 of the current Top 500 supercomputer list.

My plan...

Jun 26, 2007 16:50     

is to use this super computer for world domination! Muahahaha!!! If you do not succumb to me and honor my list of demands, I will be forced to suck away all the energy of a small town somewhere in southern Utah, and the residents there will be forced to use hydroelectric, solar, and wind to power their homes! Muahahaha! Now, the first thing I would like are some nachos and cheese. Anyone know where I can find a 711? Anyone? Respond or Southies in Utah shall pay! Muahahaha! No seriously. I'm hungry. Feed me. Feed me NOW!

JohnDoe report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

All those cores...

Jun 26, 2007 17:10     

...and it still won't run Oblivion!
Luscious report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Marvel of Efficiency!

Jun 26, 2007 18:14     

A whole cluster that consumes only 2.9 megawatts - about the same as a single Netburst Pentium 4. >;o)
Andrew report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

How does this stack up against Nvida Tesla?

Jun 26, 2007 20:27     

Posted on this very site (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32557/135/) last week: "With a common power budget of about 25 kilowatts per rackserver, a Tesla GPU server rack has a theoretical maximum performance of more than 60 TFlops..." So, a 3 PFlop capable Tesla GPU system would require only 50 racks and 1.3MW of power, right? I realize Tesla is new, but IBM has the Cell, which is not that new, has a POWERPC core, and is twice as powerful as a Tesla. Why is IBM still wasting time with "Blue" machines?

Rob report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

More to it

Jun 27, 2007 04:51     

Regarding comparison to "Tesla". I think this is just another example of how "true" supercomputer performance is simply a subject that is far more complex than what can be captured in short publicity blurbs. Throwing these numbers around is absolutely useless. People who need this kind of stuff and want to purchase one or the other, will spend months working out the nuts and bolts.
knowitall report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

show me the list!!

Jun 27, 2007 05:25     

that is all... the top 500 supercomputer list :) cheers mancer
blackmancer report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

What's it used for?

Jun 27, 2007 08:19     

Hello! What is it used for? Just to show off, or does it have any practical use?
Jonas report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: What is it used for?

Jun 27, 2007 09:58     

Well, if you're a university, government agency, or a really large corporation with lots of money and you need to rent time on a supercomputer, you can use the list to see which locations are sufficient enough for your needs.
gwolfman report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: All those cores...

Jun 27, 2007 09:59     

Maybe if each board had it's own 8800 GTX Ultra in quad SLI mode it would run for a second before it would crash... lol! Loved your comment by the way
gwolfman report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

next race will be watt / TFlops

Jun 27, 2007 11:49     

i want a SuperPi score... lol
Da Tronics report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re:All those cores...

Jul 04, 2007 05:58     

hahaha, i have to say, "and it still wont run oblivion!" is one of the funniest comments i've read on this site :)
nerdyboy report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0