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Semiconductor industry

Canada's Most Powerful Supercomputer Now Operational

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Canada's largest supercomputer, located at the University of Toronto's SciNet Consortium, is now fully operational, boasting a peak processing power of over 300 trillion calculations per second. This achievement solidifies SciNet's position as a leading player in globally important research projects. The new IBM supercomputer will be utilized in a variety of groundbreaking research areas, including aerospace, astrophysics, bioinformatics, chemical physics, climate change prediction, and medical imaging.

Key Takeaways:

  • The new supercomputer, developed by IBM, is Canada's most powerful and energy-efficient supercomputer, with a peak processing power of over 300 trillion calculations per second.
  • The SciNet consortium, which includes the University of Toronto and associated research hospitals, will continue to enhance its competitive position in globally important research projects.
  • The supercomputer will be used for research in areas such as aerospace, astrophysics, bioinformatics, chemical physics, climate change prediction, and medical imaging.
  • The system is powered by a total of 30,240 Intel processor 5500 series 2.53 GHz processor cores and is entirely water cooled.
  • The IBM System x iDataPlex system provides up to five times the compute density versus competitive offerings, thanks to its unique water cooled technology.
  • The system's energy efficiency allows it to save enough energy to power over 700 homes yearly.
  • The SciNet installation is the largest Intel processor-based IBM deployment in the world, according to Intel's General Manager of High Performance Computing, Richard Dracott.

Statistics:

  • The new supercomputer has a peak processing power of over 300 trillion calculations per second, making it one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world.
  • The system is powered by 30,240 Intel processor 5500 series 2.53 GHz processor cores.
  • The IBM System x iDataPlex provides up to five times the compute density versus competitive offerings.
  • The system's energy efficiency allows it to save enough energy to power over 700 homes yearly.
  • The SciNet installation is the largest Intel processor-based IBM deployment in the world.

Sources:

  • SciNet Consortium, Compute Canada, and IBM (http://www.scinethpc.ca)
  • IBM (http://www.ibm.com)
  • Intel (http://www.intel.com)
  • TOP500 List (http://www.top500.org/)
  • Biotech Week editors (www.bionews-services.com)

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