Called Lightning, the computer supports the Advanced Simulation and Computing program, or ASCI, which helps ensure the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile in the absence of underground testing.
When delivered to the Metropolis Center for Modeling and Simulation in September, the cluster is expected to rank among the most powerful supercomputers in the world.
ASCI supercomputers run three-dimensional codes that simulate all the physics involved in a nuclear detonation, allowing researchers to integrate past weapons test data, materials studies and current experiments in simulations of unprecedented size. A collaboration among Los Alamos and its sister national laboratories — Lawrence Livermore and Sandia — and the Defense Programs office of the National Nuclear Security Administration, ASCI creates the leading-edge computational modeling and simulation capabilities essential for maintaining the safety, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear stockpile and reducing the nuclear danger.
Los Alamos will use Lightning principally for smaller, more numerous computing jobs in the Stockpile Stewardship workload such as weapons code development, verification and validation.
"The Lightning system that Linux Networx is designing offers a cost-competitive way to meet our growing need to run large, important calculations and get results in a few days," said John Morrison, leader of Los Alamos' Computing, Communications and Networking Division. "A system of this magnitude will provide a valuable proving ground for large-scale, practical cluster computing, building on the exciting development of open source tools by the larger high-performance computing community."
"While the 11 teraflops peak performance of this system is impressive, Linux Networx places a higher importance on the real peak performance and the system uptime, so we deliver the most productive computer possible to our customers," said Bernard Daines, CEO of Linux Networx. "We feel confident the delivery of this system will help Linux Networx maintain a leadership position in the Linux cluster market."
Lightning includes 2,816 Opteron processors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), making it the largest Opteron system delivered in 2003 and the first 64-bit Linux supercomputer in the ASCI program. Linux Networx won the initial contract for 1,280 dual-processor nodes, and Los Alamos has agreed to exercise an option to boost the number of nodes to 1,408. The total cost of the initial contract, the option and another option for system maintenance is just under $10 million.
"Los Alamos' Lightning cluster is a great example of how large-scale systems are benefiting from the AMD Opteron processor," said Marty Seyer, AMD vice-president. "By combining industry-standard technology, outstanding 32- and 64-bit performance, AMD and Linux Networx are heightening the impact of supercomputing technology."
For more specific technical detail on the supercomputer Linux Networx is building for Los Alamos, go to http://www.lnxi.com/news/lightning_info.phponline.
Los Alamos develops and applies science and technology to ensure the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent; reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction, proliferation and terrorism; and solve national problems in defense, energy, environment and infrastructure.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.