The selection of a new supercomputer for a scientific data center represents an interesting neurotic condition stemming from the conflict between a compulsion to acquire the best of the latest generation computer hardware, and unresolved issues as users seek validation from legacy scientific software - sometimes euphemistically called “research quality code”. Virtualization technology, now a mainstream feature on modern processors, permits multiple operating systems to efficiently and simultaneously run on each node of a supercomputer (or even your laptop and workstation). The benefits of this technology are many, ranging from supporting legacy software to paving the way towards robust petascale (1015 floating point operations per second) and eventually exascale (1018 floating point operations per second) computing.
Revised: October 10, 2011 |
Published: June 30, 2007
Citation
Farber R. 2007.The Cure for HPC Neurosis: Multiple, Virtual Personalities!.Scientific Computing 24, no. 7:16.PNNL-SA-55118.