Science & Technology - Super computer and Its Applications

Science & Technology - Super computer and Its Applications

Supercomputer

• A type of computer which is used in areas that requires large mathematical and difficult calculations at frontline of processing capacity is known as Super computer.
• The computing performance of a supercomputer is measured in FLOPS (that is ?oating-point operations per second) instead of MIPS (Million Instruments Per Second).
• The supercomputer consists of tens of thousands of processors which can perform billions and trillions of calculations per second, or you can say that supercomputers can deliver up to nearly a hundred quadrillions of FLOPS.
• They have evolved from grid to cluster system of massively parallel computing.
• Cluster system computing means that machine uses multiple processors in one system instead of arrays of separate computers in a network.
• These computers are most massive size. A most powerful supercomputer can occupy few feet to hundreds of feet.

Characteristics of Supercomputer

• They can support more than a hundred users at a time.
• These machines are capable of handling the massive amount of calculations that are beyond the human capabilities, i.e., the human is unable to solve such extensive calculations.
• Many individuals can access supercomputers at the same time.
• These are the most expensive computers that can ever be made.

Features of Supercomputer       

• They have more than 1 CPU (Central Processing Unit) which contains instructions so that it can interpret instructions and execute arithmetic and logical operations.
• The supercomputer can support extremely high computation speed of CPUs.
• They can operate on pairs of lists of numbers instead of pairs of numbers.
• They were used initially in applications related to national security, nuclear weapon design, and ! cryptography. But nowadays they are also employed by the aerospace, automotive and petroleum industries.

Uses of Supercomputer

Supercomputers are not used for everyday tasks because of their superiority. Supercomputer handles those applications, which required the real-time processing. The uses are as follows:

• They’re used for scienti?c simulations and research such as weather forecasting, meteorology, nuclear energy research, physics, and chemistry, as well as for extremely complex animated graphics.
• They are also used to interpret new diseases and predict illness behaviour and treatment.
• The military uses supercomputers for testing new aircrafts, tanks, and weapons.
• They also use them to understand the effect on soldiers and wars. These machines are also used for encrypting the data.
• Scientists use them to test the impact of nuclear weapon detonation.
• In entertainment, supercomputers are used for online gaming and creation of animation.
• Supercomputers help in stabilizing the game performance when a lot of users are playing the game.

The potential applications of supercomputers

• Recreating the Big Bang: The “Big Bang” or the initial expansion of all energy and matter in the universe, happened more than 13 billion years ago in trillion-degree Celsius temperatures, but supercomputer simulations make it possible to observe what went on during the universe’s birth. Researchers can run models that require upward of a thousand trillion calculations per second, allowing for the most realistic models of these cosmic mysteries yet.
• Understanding earthquakes: By modeling the three-dimensional structure of the Earth, researchers can predict how earthquake waves will travel both locally and globally. The resulting techniques can be used to map the subsurface for oil exploration or carbon sequestration, and can help researchers understand the processes occurring deep in the Earth’s mantle and core.
• Modeling swine ?u: Potential pandemics like the H1N1 swine ? u require a fast response on two fronts: First, researchers have to ? gure out how the virus is spreading. Second, they have to ? nd drugs to stop it. Supercomputers can help with both. During the recent H1N1 outbreak, researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, used an advanced model of disease spread called EpiSimdemics to predict the transmission of the ? u.
• Testing nuclear weapons: Computer simulations to ensure that the country’s cache of nuclear weapons is functional and safe. The real aim is to create better simulations of nuclear explosions and to do away with real-world nuke testing for good.
• Predicting climate change: The challenge of predicting global climate is immense. There are hundreds of variables. Dealing with these variables requires supercomputing capabilities. The resulting simulations both map out the past and look into the future. Models of the ancient past can be matched with fossil data to check for reliability, making future predictions stronger. New variables, such as the effect of cloud cover on climate, can be explored.
• Making possible more scienti?c advances: Supercomputing is needed for processing sophisticated computational models able to simulate the cellular structure and functionalities of the brain. This should enable us to better understand how our brain works and how we can cope with diseases such as those linked to ageing.
• More reliable decision-making: The world faces an increasing number of challenges at the local level as well as at the planetary scale. The convergence of HPC, Big Data and Cloud technologies will allow new applications and services in an increasingly complex scenario where decision-making processes have to be fast and precise to avoid catastrophes. Supercomputers are in the front line for developing essential public policies, from homeland security to climate action.

Different types of supercomputers are:

1. Tianhe-2 – China

The Tianhe-2 (Milky Way-2), built by China’s National University of Defence Technology (NUDT) for the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzho. It’s the most powerful computer in the world and performs at 33.86 petaflop/s (Pflop/s) on the Linpack benchmark.

The system has 3,120,000 computing cores made up from 16,000 computer nodes, each comprising two Intel Ivy Bridge Xeon processors and three Xeon Phi coprocessor chips.

2. Titan – United States

The Titan computer is a Cray XK7 system used by the United States Department of Energy at their Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The former top-ranked Jaguar supercomputer was upgraded in 2012 to become the then most powerful computer (until the Tianhe machine overtook it).

The system performs at 17.59 Pflop/s using 261,632 NVIDIA K20x cores.

3. Sequoia – United States 

The Sequoia computer is based on the now unsupported IBM BlueGene framework. It has been used to make key advances in climate, astronomy and energy application areas.

Located in California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Sequoia platform has achieved 17.17 Pflop/s and uses 1,572,864 cores.

4. K Computer – Japan

The K computer was manufactured by Fujitsu at the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science (AICS) in Kobe, Japan.

This system hit 10.51 Pflop/s and uses 705,024 SPARC64 processing cores.

5. Mira – Unites States

Also built around the BlueGene architecture, the Mira is one of the older computers on the list. Primarily used by the Unites States Department of Energy (and now housed at the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago), it is being succeeded by the upcoming Aurora supercomputer.

The Mira computer has peaked at 8.59 Pflop/s and uses 786,432 cores.

6. Piz Daint – Switzerland

The Piz Daint, a Cray XC30 system, is the most powerful computer in Europe. It’s installed at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano, Switzerland.

Piz Daint achieved 6.27 Pflop/s on the Linpack benchmark, using 73,808 NVIDIA K20x accelerator cores.

7. Shaheen II – Saudi Arabia

The Shaheen II is the newest computer in the top 10 list. Based around a Cray XC40 system, it went live in 2015 and is the only computer from the region in the top 10. It’s located at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

The platform has performed at 5.536 PFlop/s and uses 196,608 Intel Xeon E5-2698v3 cores.

8. Stampede – United States

The Stampede computer is a Dell PowerEdge C8220 system based around interlinked powerful desktop computers.

It’s based at the Texas Advanced Computing Center and has reached 5.17 Pflop/s.

9. Juqueen – Germany

The only other Europe-based computer, housed at the Forschungszentrum Juelich in Germany, is based on the older BlueGene architecture from IBM. It has reached 5.01 Pflop/s.

10. Vulcan – United States

The Vulcan computer is another IBM BlueGene and is installed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, along with No 3, the Sequoia. It has reached a speed of 4.29 Pflop/s.

Recent Advancement

1. BullSequana Supercomputer

• • France-based European Information Technology Corporation Atos and C-DAC (Centre for Development and Advanced Computing) of India have entered into agreement for designing, building and installing BullSequana Supercomputer in India.
  • BullSequana Supercomputer will create a network of 70 high-performance supercomputing facilities for various academic and research institutions across India. Spanning over a period of seven years.

Application:

• Strengthening academic and research institutions in India
• Recreating the Big Bang
• Understanding earthquakes, cosmos and subatomic particle
• Intelligence Agencies Mapping the blood stream
• Modelling swine ?u, other deadly diseases
• Testing nuclear weapons
• Predicting climate change/ Weather Forecasting/ hurricanes
• Building arti?cial human brain

2. Shakti – India’s ?rst indigenous Microprocessor

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) researchers have designed India’s ? rst indigenous microprocessor called ‘Shakti’.

Signi?cance

‘Shakti’ will   reduce dependency on imported microchips and the risk of cyber attacks.

‘Shakti’ will be ideal for communication and defence sectors. 

The team is now ready with ‘Parashakti’, an advanced microprocessor for super computers