From: Roderick A. Carder-Russell (rodc@shore.net)
Date: Tue Jan 07 1997 - 14:07:47 MST
This is rather old news, but there is a new article about it in
this weeks Science News. The following article is from the Intel web
site, I was unable to get the Science News article, so you will have to
read the hardcopy.
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One Trillion-Operations-Per-Second!
Sandia National Labs/Intel System First to Shatter Computing
High-Performance Mark
SANTA CLARA, Calif., -- December 17, 1996 – The [Image]
United States Department of Energy's Sandia
National Laboratory and Intel Corporation, the Paul Work, a
world's largest computer chip company, have built a Computational Scientist
parallel supercomputer that has reached the one at Intel, inspects
trillion- operations-per-second performance mark Pentium® Pro processors
using the industry standard Linpack measurement used to shatter the
method, the two organizations announced today. The world's computing speed
achievement of 1..06 teraflops -- or trillions of record. Click here to
floating point operations-per-second -- shatters download a high
the previous performance record of 368.2 gigaflops resolution photo file.
(billion-operations-per-second) by over 250
percent.
"Today's accomplishment is computing's equivalent to breaking the sound
barrier," said Dr. Craig R. Barrett, Intel executive vice president and
chief operating officer. "Just a few years ago, a teraflop was an
intellectual barrier that nature dared us to cross. Now that we’ve surpassed
that barrier, we have the computing horsepower needed to address the Grand
Challenges of Science. We could be at the threshold of robust scientific
discovery, triggered by access to teraflop-level computing performance."
The Grand Challenges of Science include issues in Applied Fluid Dynamics,
Meso- to Macro-Scale Environmental Modeling, Ecosystem Simulations,
Biomedical Imaging and Biomechanics, Molecular Biology, Molecular Design and
Process Optimization, Cognition, Fundamental Computational Sciences, and
Grand-Challenge-Scale Applications. Utilizing only three-fourths of the
final supercomputer -- 7,264 of the planned 9,200 Pentium® Pro processors --
the Intel/Sandia Teraflops System is the first computer in the world to
break the teraflops barrier.
break the teraflops barrier.
[Image]
The Intel/Sandia Teraflops Computer is
The supercomputer performed currently under construction at
calculations at a rate of more than Intel’s Beaverton plant. The system
one trillion per second, beating will be installed in stages at Sandia
the previous record of 368 billion National Laboratories in New Mexico in
calculations per second by over 250 the first half of 1997. At completion,
percent. Click here to download a the computer will have 9,200 Pentium
high resolution photo file. Pro processors and is expected to
perform at sustained rates of 1.4
teraflops and peak rates of approaching two teraflops. Just 25 years ago,
Intel introduced the world’s first microprocessor, which delivered 60,000
instructions per second.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O’Leary said, "This achievement firmly
re-establishes U.S. computer industry leadership in developing high-end
systems. Four years ago the U.S. government, industry and academia set a
goal. At that time it was not clear how or even if a
trillion-operations-per-second computer could be achieved. Now thanks to
U.S. innovation, it’s not only possible, it’s being done."
"The Intel/Sandia teraflop computer is built from commercial, off-the-shelf
products and technologies including the same Pentium Pro processor in many
of today’s workstations and servers," said Ed Masi, general manager and vice
president of Intel’s Server Systems Products Division. "Using commercially
available technology has enabled the government to utilize the R&D muscle of
the marketplace, focusing tax dollars on combining these standard building
blocks into the world’s most powerful computer."
The Linpack measurement method is the most widely recognized single
benchmark for measuring sustained floating-point performance of high-end
computers. It gives an accurate picture of the performance of a given
computer on applications that require the solution of large, dense linear
systems – a category that includes a very wide range of technical
applications.
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of
personal computer, networking, and communications products. Through
innovative technologies, Intel is committed to improving the Internet
experience for PC consumers. Additional information is available at
www.intel.com.
More information
* Department of Energy's "Ultra" Computer Reaches 1 Trillion Operations
Per Second Milestone.
* Statement by the Vice President of the United States
* Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI): Science Based
Stockpile Stewardship Computer Announcement
* Click here for more facts about the Teraflops Computer.
* Click here for .jpg files of the above photos.
* Intel Corporate News Press Kit
* Read previous Corporate News related press releases.
* Contact the Intel Press Relations Manager on this topic.
* Additional information on Intel is available at
www.intel.com/pressroom.
______________________________________________________________________________
>H >H
Roderick A. Carder-Russell
Transhumanist/Immortalist/Cryonicist
Suspension Member - Alcor Foundation
specializing in man-machine symbiosis
e-mail: rodc@shore.net WWW: http://www.shore.net/~rodc/home.html
>H >H
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