New York University Taps IBM Supercomputer to Help Solve the Mysteries of the Sea

New York University Taps IBM Supercomputer to Help Solve the Mysteries of the Sea

IBM today announced that New York University (NYU) has installed and begun to make use of a new IBM eServerâ„¢ BladeCenter®-based computing system capable of peak performance of 4.5 TeraFlops. According to the TOP500 List, a ranking of supercomputers published at www.top500.org, NYU’s supercomputer is the fastest in New York City and the 117th fastest supercomputer in the world.

The new compact system will support NYU research with heavy computational requirements. Among the research enterprises that will be early beneficiaries of the new system are the Center for Atmosphere-Ocean Science in the Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, which is developing sophisticated models to study the behavior of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, and a collaborative effort between the Center for Comparative Functional Genomics and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences on genomics and bioinformatics.

By using IBM BladeCenter technology, NYU was able to create a supercomputing cluster with a footprint of only 30 square feet, allowing the University to best utilize valuable New York City real estate space.

“IBM’s off-the-shelf blade server technology allowed us to easily connect a cluster of systems and solve the challenge of building a supercomputer in valuable space here in the city,” said Marilyn McMillan, Associate Provost and Chief Information Technology Officer of New York University. “By leveraging IBM’s Power Architecture technology with Linux, we are able to tap into a 64-bit computing platform that will greatly speed the research process and help our researchers to more rapidly turn scientific theory into real-world benefits to society. This supercomputer re-establishes NYU’s position of leadership in high performance computing.”

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