I have a lot of trouble with this being called a "supercomputer". This term is thrown around a lot these days, and most of the time, it's not deserved.
A "supercomputer", by a more professional definition is a computer that runs at least 100 times faster than your "average" computer. Often, its more like 1000. Mainstream news agencies like CNN, CNET, etc. seem to like to use this word for just about anything more than 8 processors. SGI doesn't even consider its Origin line to be a supercomputer until it passes at least 32 processors.
As far as this product goes, I think it's got a good place in the dedicated server business, and possibly some low end batch computation. I do have to admit, using AI concepts for system monitoring was a pretty neat trick!
This is an area where I have a pretty good amount of knowledge, and I think a few clarifications need to be made.
First off, this has absolutely nothing to do with the Cray division (which several people, including Hemos seem to think). This project, and the current ASCI Blue Mountain project, are both built from SGI's Origin line of servers (the SN1 is the next generation of this). Cray's unit only works with the Vector supercomputers. Also remember (from August) that SGI is going to be getting rid of this division.
Second, I'd like to point out that this article is really just speculation. Read it closely, they take a couple of facts - SGI is trying to get this contract, they are working on ramping up the scalability of Linux, and the new SN1 servers will be eventually based on the Itanium - and they try to draw a conclusion that Linux might be what is run on this supercomputer.
Now, I'm not saying that this isn't a valid argument - but Linux as an operating system has a LONG way to go before it supports the massive number of processors and amount of memory we're talking about here (Blue Mountain has 6144 processors). There is still a lot that Linux is missing.
This does not necessarily mean that SGI can't get it that far, especially with its experience in scalable OSes. I would love to see them do it. But when you already have an architecture and OS that works running on the Blue Mountain configuration, it would be going quite a bit out of their way. So, until I hear SGI themselves say "we're running Linux on T30", I'm going to be skeptical.
If they DID - hey, that'd be a GREAT push for Linux. Lets hope they go for it.
Slashdot Mirror
A "supercomputer", by a more professional definition is a computer that runs at least 100 times faster than your "average" computer. Often, its more like 1000. Mainstream news agencies like CNN, CNET, etc. seem to like to use this word for just about anything more than 8 processors. SGI doesn't even consider its Origin line to be a supercomputer until it passes at least 32 processors.
As far as this product goes, I think it's got a good place in the dedicated server business, and possibly some low end batch computation. I do have to admit, using AI concepts for system monitoring was a pretty neat trick!
First off, this has absolutely nothing to do with the Cray division (which several people, including Hemos seem to think). This project, and the current ASCI Blue Mountain project, are both built from SGI's Origin line of servers (the SN1 is the next generation of this). Cray's unit only works with the Vector supercomputers. Also remember (from August) that SGI is going to be getting rid of this division.
Second, I'd like to point out that this article is really just speculation. Read it closely, they take a couple of facts - SGI is trying to get this contract, they are working on ramping up the scalability of Linux, and the new SN1 servers will be eventually based on the Itanium - and they try to draw a conclusion that Linux might be what is run on this supercomputer.
Now, I'm not saying that this isn't a valid argument - but Linux as an operating system has a LONG way to go before it supports the massive number of processors and amount of memory we're talking about here (Blue Mountain has 6144 processors). There is still a lot that Linux is missing.
This does not necessarily mean that SGI can't get it that far, especially with its experience in scalable OSes. I would love to see them do it. But when you already have an architecture and OS that works running on the Blue Mountain configuration, it would be going quite a bit out of their way. So, until I hear SGI themselves say "we're running Linux on T30", I'm going to be skeptical.
If they DID - hey, that'd be a GREAT push for Linux. Lets hope they go for it.