Texas Advanced Computing Center Plans Stampede 2 Supercomputer
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin will deploy a new supercomputer, called Stampede 2, to provide
researchers across the United States with access to high-performance
computing (HPC) capabilities.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $30 million grant to TACC to build the new supercomputer, which "builds on technology and expertise from the Stampede system first funded by the NSF in 2011," according to information from The University of Texas at Austin.
With
a peak performance of up to 18 petaflops, Stampede 2 will double the
peak performance, memory, storage capacity and bandwidth of TACC's
original Stampede system. Stampede 2 includes "a mix of upcoming Intel
Xeon Phi processors, codenamed 'Knights Landing,' and future-generation
Intel Xeon processors, connected by Intel Omni-Path architecture,"
according to a news release. Upcoming 3D XPoint nonvolatile memory
technology will be integrated in the final phase of deployment.
"The
kind of large-scale computing and data capabilities systems like
Stampede and Stampede 2 provide are crucial for innovation in almost
every area of research and development, from providing insights to
fundamental theory to applied work that has real near-term impacts on
society," said Dan Stanzione, executive director of TACC and principal
investigator of the Stampede and Stampede 2 projects, in a prepared
statement. "Stampede has been used for everything from determining
earthquake risks to help set building codes for homes and commercial
buildings, to computing the largest mathematical proof ever
constructed."
Stampede 2 vendor partners include Dell, Intel and Seagate Technology. The supercomputer will be operated by a team of cyberinfrastructure experts at TACC, UT Austin, Clemson University, Cornell University, University of Colorado Boulder, Indiana University and Ohio State University.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].