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NASA Installs Linux Supercomputer

Posted by Cliff on from the penguins-exploring-the-ocean dept.

unassimilatible writes: "Federal Computer Week reports that NASA plans to study the ocean's future with the help of the world's first supercomputer of its kind to run on the Linux operating system. The new supercomputer -- an SGI AltixT 3000 single-system image supercomputer -- has been installed at the space agency's Ames Research Center in California."

9 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Uh-oh... by Hanzie · · Score: 5, Funny

    The article explicitly says they're using NUMA archeticture.

    Obviously, it's running SCO's intellectual property. SGI doesn't really own NUMA, they only wrote it. Deep down, it's really a derivative of vi.

    --
    ********* sig: If you don't like the law, get filthy stinking rich, and buy a better one.
  2. Altix by Preach+the+Good+Word · · Score: 5, Informative

    SGI's Altix handles up to 64 processors on a Linux kernel using the patches they release as opensource. As SGI hacks away at their bigmem and numa patches, they'll be able to handle more and more processors. The plan is to eventually graft enough IRIX technology to support just as many processors on Altix as they do with MIPS processors in Origin with IRIX.

    Even if you aren't a fan of Itanium2, Linux, or NUMA, these patches are bringing some nifty high-end tech to the free software arena.

    1. Re:Altix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The only IRIX technology they're grafting is the SCSI layer. With the 2.6 kernel, there really isn't that much they need to do. They're testing their 512 processor systems on linux 2.6 as we speak, btw.

  3. NASA was going to roll this out earlier... by AvantLegion · · Score: 5, Funny
    ... but their copy of Mandrake 9.2 broke their supercomputer's LG CD-ROM drive.

  4. Re:Patches ? by BJH · · Score: 5, Informative

    Don't know if this is what SGI is using, but the status of NUMA in the kernel and associated patches for it is shown here.

  5. In other news..... by micaiah · · Score: 5, Funny

    SCO sues Nasa for using Linux.

    Darl McBride stated yesturday, "Since Nasa is using Linux we now own the entire universe and are claiming our rightful ownership."

  6. Bad Influence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't using a supercomputer that has hundreds of very hot processors to simulate climatic change going to directly cause a change in the climet be ejecting large quantities of hot air?

  7. Re:Not quite "Supercomputing" by Error27 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The thing that is special about the NASA computer is that it is a single image system and not really some cluster type thing. Mostly people say that Linux 2.4 scales well up to 8 processors, but this system has 256 processors.

    SGI is working on scaling the kernel to even more processors. For example, Erik Jacobson from SGI recently noticed that 'cat /proc/interrupts' doesn't work if you have 512 CPUs in your system. Frankly when I saw that I thought it was a joke, but I guess it must be real if they already have paying customers.

  8. This new supercomputer has paid off already... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... as it has completed it's simulation of the ocean in order to predict it's future:

    cold and wet.