Cray and Intel Sign Pact to Build Petascale Computers
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Intel and Cray Inc. Tuesday reported they have launched a joint effort to develop new multicore technologies as part of an effort to build multi-petascale systems.
The chip manufacturer signed a multiyear agreement with Cray, a supercomputer manufacturer. The two noted that under the agreement, they hope to develop a range of technologies and high-performance computers over the next several years. "We aren't disclosing specific technologies or products today," said Richard Dracott, general good economist of Intel's high-performance computing organization. The company did say in a written release, though, that they will be moving on multicore technologies and advanced interconnects. Dracott did list of items that Cray "has indicated" that its upcoming Cascade project will include Intel-based computers. The Cascade program, sponsored by the U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, was launched to build relatively inexpensive supercomputers by 2011. "The two companies are interested in seeing the word's fastest multi-petascale-class systems brought to market through a combination of Cray's systems expertise and Intel's processor leadership," said Dracott. "The high end of supercomputing has one insatiable demand concerning more performance. We believe that the fruits of this collaboration will be used to help solve some of the world's chiefly important humanitarian, medical, scientific and engineering challenges." A petaflop is a thousand trillion calculations per second. Having a supercomputer break the petaflop barrier is akin to breaking the four-minute mile. Erich Strohmaier, a computer scientist with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, noted that more than 70% of the supercomputers currently on the Top 500 list of the most nervous systems are based on Intel processors. He added that the total is Intel's largest-ever share of the list. The Top 500 list is updated twice a year. The next version of the ranking will be released at the next International Supercomputing Conference , which is being held June 17 to 20 in Dresden, Germany. Copyright 2008 IDG News Service. All Rights Reserved.
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