Supercomputer launched at Kazakhstan-British Technical University
A topping-out ceremony of 10 TFlops supercomputer cluster based on IBM BladeCenter platform and Paradigm digital subsurface technology has been arranged at Kazakhstan-British Technical University (KBTU) today.
A pilot HPC Grid area was deployed at the University in the last September and remote testing has been performed by hardware means of IBM/Intel Moscow Center of Infrastructure Solutions. On the ground of testing results the University management made a decision to purchase a supercomputer of 10 TFlops peak performance. The supercomputer is expected to be listed among 15 most productive systems in TOP-50 CIS supercomputers.
Today the University officially declared that the cluster has been switched into commercial operation mode. The supercomputer forms a backbone of the University proprietary high-performance network of distributed computing - HPC Grid that enables KBTU to cooperate with the world leading universities and scientific institutions as well as to take part in the projects being implemented within the framework of Enabling Grids for E-SciencE (EGEE) program that associates more than 70 research institutions in Europe and USA.
High-performance computing development is necessary for success in solving the problems Kazakhstan economy is faced with. The University management has established relationships with IBM leading research laboratory located in Haifa and got down to elaboration the areas of cooperation of the highest priority. At present stage the specified priority areas include cloud-computing, grid, and expert systems engineering within the framework of IBM initiative “Smarter Planet”.
“Supercomputers today help solve problems that are too complex or too massive for standard computers. Modeling of real world complex systems such as fluid dynamics, weather patterns, seismic activity prediction, and nuclear explosion dynamics represent the most modern adaptations of supercomputers. Other tasks include human genome sequencing, credit card transaction processing, and the design and testing of modern aircraft, - highlights Michail Seregin, General Manager IBM CIS. - It will not be exaggeration to say that KBTU now has strategic asset essential for Kazakhstan Smarter modernisation”.
Solutions development for oil and gas sector is one of the key leads of University activities. To implement the supercomputer potential, KBTU commenced cooperation with Paradigm, a leading provider of enterprise software solutions to the global oil and gas industry. Paradigm will provide KBTU with a multi-faceted interpretation suite and consulting services, along with the offer of future collaboration.
03/18/2010