SGI Altix Supercomputer Drives Breakthroughs in Oceanography

Strategic Insights -

The First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) in Qingdao, China, has installed an SGI Altix supercomputing system to accelerate ocean environment research. The system, powered by 32 Intel Itanium 2 processors and 32GB global shared memory, has been in full operation since September. Researchers at FIO are using the Altix system to simulate ocean environment, ocean airflow, and global ocean data changes, enabling more accurate and long-range forecasts of ocean weather and conditions.

Key Takeaways:

  • The SGI Altix supercomputing system has been installed at the First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) in Qingdao, China, to accelerate ocean environment research.
  • The system consists of 32 Intel Itanium 2 processors and 32GB global shared memory, providing high-performance compute power and high I/O capabilities.
  • Researchers at FIO are applying increasingly sophisticated mathematical models to generate more accurate and long-range forecasts of ocean weather and conditions.
  • The Altix system delivers real-time performance required for ocean wave model code and real-time environment numerical modeling simulation.
  • FIO could not run their new wind wave modeling code with their older systems due to system overloading and bandwidth limitations, but the Altix system resolves these bottlenecks.
  • The study of marine science and global climate change is one of the biggest challenges and most important issues facing the world in the 21st century.
  • SGI technology is being used for world-leading marine science research, and the combination of SGI technology and leading marine scientists is expected to lead to faster and more successful marine science research in China.

Statistics:

  • The SGI Altix supercomputing system consists of 32 Intel Itanium 2 processors.
  • The system has 32GB global shared memory.
  • The Altix system delivered 30% higher performance than other systems tested on internal application benchmarks.
  • Researchers at FIO serve as key laboratory of SOA, including the Key Laboratory of Marine Science and Numerical Modeling.
  • FIO has 485 scientific and technology professionals studying Physical Oceanography, Marine Geology, Marine Remote Sensing, Marine Chemistry, and Marine Biology.
  • SGI has been a leader in high-performance computing, visualization, and storage for more than two decades.

Sources:

  • "SGI Altix Supercomputer Drives Breakthroughs in Oceanography" (Press Release by Silicon Graphics)
  • "First Institute of Oceanography (FIO)" (organization website)
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