这个牛：中国超级计算机(引自美国媒体)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/technology/28compute.html?_r=2&hpChinese Supercomputer Wrests Title From U.S
.
By ASHLEE VANCE
Published: October 28, 2010
A Chinese scientific research center hasbuilt the fastest supercomputer ever made, replacing the United States as maker of the swiftest machine,and giving Chinabragging rights as a technology superpower.
Enlarge This Image
Nvidia
The Tianhe-1Acomputer in Tianjin, China, links thousands uponthousands of chips.
The computer, known as Tianhe-1A, has 1.4 times the horsepower of thecurrent top computer, which is at a national laboratory in Tennessee, asmeasured by the standard test used to gauge how well the systems handlemathematical calculations, said Jack Dongarra, a University of Tennesseecomputer scientist who maintains the official supercomputer rankings.
Although the official list of the top 500fastest machines, which comes out every six months, is not due to be completedby Mr. Dongarra until next week, he said the Chinese computer “blows away theexisting No. 1 machine.” He added, “We don’t close the books until Nov. 1, butI would say it is unlikely we will see a system that is faster.”www.6park.com
Officials from the Chinese research center,the National University of Defense Technology, are expected to reveal thecomputer’s performance on Thursday at a conference in Beijing. The center says it is “under thedual supervision of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry ofEducation.”
The race to build the fastest supercomputerhas become a source of national pride as these machines are valued for theirability to solve problems critical to national interests in areas like defense,energy, finance and science. Supercomputing technology also finds its way intomainstream business; oil and gas companies use it to find reservoirs and WallStreet traders use it for superquick automated trades. Procter & Gambleeven uses supercomputers to make sure that Pringles go into cans withoutbreaking.
And typically, research centers with largesupercomputers are magnets for top scientific talent, adding significance tothe presence of the machines well beyond just cranking through calculations.
Over the last decade, the Chinese havesteadily inched up in the rankings of supercomputers. Tianhe-1A stands as the culmination of billions ofdollars in investment and scientific development, as China has gone from a computingafterthought to a world technology superpower.
“What is scaryabout this is that the U.S. dominance in high-performance computing is atrisk,” said Wu-chun Feng, a supercomputing expert and professor at VirginiaPolytechnic Institute and State University. “One could argue that this hits thefoundation of our economic future.”
Modern supercomputers are built bycombining thousands of small computer servers and using software to turn theminto a single entity. In that sense, any organization with enough money andexpertise can buy what amount to off-the-shelf components and create a fastmachine.
The Chinese system follows that model bylinking thousands upon thousands of chips made by the American companies Inteland Nvidia. But the secret sauce behind the system — and the technologicalachievement — is the interconnect, or networking technology, developed byChinese researchers that shuttles data back and forth across the smallercomputers at breakneck rates, Mr. Dongarra said.
“Thattechnology was built by them,” Mr. Dongarra said. “They are takingsupercomputing very seriously and making a deep commitment.”
The Chinese interconnect can handle data atabout twice the speed of a common interconnect called InfiniBand used in manysupercomputers.
For decades, the United States has developed most ofthe underlying technology that goes into the massive supercomputers and hasbuilt the largest, fastest machines at research laboratories and universities.Some of the top systems simulate the effects of nuclear weapons, while otherspredict the weather and aid in energy research.www.6park.com
In 2002, the United States lost its crown as supercomputing kingpin for thefirst time in stunning fashion when Japan unveiled a machine with morehorsepower than the top 20 American computers combined. The United Statesgovernment responded in kind, forming groups to plot a comeback and pouringmoney into supercomputing projects. The United States regained itsleadership status in 2004, and has kept it, until now.
At the computing conference on Thursday in China, theresearchers will discuss how they are using the new system for scientificresearch in fields like astrophysics and bio-molecular modeling. Tianhe-1A, which is housed in a building at the National SupercomputingCenter in Tianjin, can perform mathematical operationsabout 29 million times faster than one of the earliest supercomputers, built in1976.
For the record, it performs 2.5 times 10 tothe 15th power mathematical operations per second.
Mr. Dongarra said a long-running Chineseproject to build chips to rival those from Intel and others remained under wayand looked promising. “It’s not quite there yet, but it will be in a year ortwo,” he said.
He also said that in November, when thelist comes out, he expected a second Chinese computer to be in the top five,culminating years of investment.
“The Japanesecame out of nowhere and really caught people off guard,” Mr. Feng said. “With China,you could see this one coming.”
Steven J. Wallach, a well-known computerdesigner, played down the importance of taking the top spot on thesupercomputer rankings.
“It’sinteresting, but it’s like getting to the four-minute mile,” Mr. Wallach said.“The world didn’t stop. This is just a snapshot in time.”
The research labs often spend weeks tuningtheir systems to perform well on the standard horsepower test. But just becausea system can hammer through trillions of calculations per second does not meanit will do well on the specialized jobs that researchers want to use it for,Mr. Wallach added.
The United States has plans in place tomake much faster machines out of proprietary components and to advance thesoftware used by these systems so that they are easy for researchers to use. Butthose computers remain years away, and for now, China is king.
“They want to show they areNo. 1 in the world, no matter whatit is,” Mr. Wallach said. “I don’t blame them.
蹩脚的google翻译
中国超级计算机Wrests标题来自美国
由阿什莉万斯
出版日期：2010年10月28日
一个中国科研中心建立了有史以来最快的超级计算机，取代了最快机制造商美国，并给予中国作为技术超级大国吹嘘的权利。
放大这张图片
Nvidia的
天津，中国，天河- 1A型计算机芯片中的链接后，成千上万的数千人。
计算机，1A条被称为天河，有1.4倍的计算马力目前顶级计算机，数学是一个国家实验室在田纳西州的系统中如何处理好，作为衡量的标准测试，用以衡量，杰克说Dongarra，一田纳西大学的计算机科学家谁在维护官方的超级计算机的排名。
虽然官方最快的计算机500强名单，其中每半年出来，是不是因为被Dongarra先生完成到下周，他说，中文电脑“吹走现有的1号机。”他补充“我们不要关闭，直到11月1日的书籍，但我会说这是不可能的，我们将看到一个系统，速度更快。”
，官员从中国研究中心，国立大学国防科技周四透露，预计在北京会议的计算机上的性能。 该中心说，这是“根据国防的双重监管部和教育部。”
这场比赛打造最快的超级计算机已经成为一个国家感到骄傲，因为这些机器是科学价值的能力，解决问题的关键财务和国家利益的领域，如国防，能源。 超级计算技术还发现它的方式进入主流商业，石油和天然气公司用它来寻找水库和华尔街商人利用它为superquick交易自动化。宝洁公司甚至使用超级计算机，以确保品客薯片罐进入不会折断。
而通常情况下，大型超级计算机研究中心的都是顶尖科学人才磁铁，增加机起动远远超出计算只是通过意义的存在的。
在过去的十年中，中国一直稳步小幅上升的超级计算机的排名。 天河- 1A型的开发高潮站在科学的，数十亿美元的投资，因为中国已经经历了从一个超级大国事后计算为世界的技术。
“这是什么可怕的是，美国主导的高性能计算的高风险是在说：”吴春风，超级计算专家和大学教授在弗吉尼亚理工学院和州立。 “人们可能会说，这击中了我们的经济未来的基础。”
现代超级计算机的服务器相结合，构建了数以千计的小型计算机，使用软件来打开他们到一个单一的实体。 在这个意义上说，任何专业知识和组织有足够的钱能买什么组件数量为关闭的成品，并创建一个快速的机器。
中文系统下，Nvidia公司模型和连接美国英特尔公司的数千言后，数以千计的芯片。 但背后的系统秘密武器-和科技成果-是互连，或网络技术，开发的先生说，由中国Dongarra研究者认为航天飞机的小型电脑的数据备份来回对面的惊人增长率。
“这种技术是他们建造的，”先生Dongarra说。 “他们是非常重视，并采取超级作出的坚定承诺。”
在中国互联可以处理常见的数据大约两次的速度称为InfiniBand的超级计算机互连用在许多。
几十年来，美国已开发最底层的技术，进入庞大的超级计算机，并建立了国内规模最大，发展最快的大学在研究实验室和设备。 系统的一些顶级模拟核武器的作用，而另一些研究预测天气和能源援助。
2002年，美国失去了它的冠电脑相结合第一次作为主销的超级迷人的时尚，而20日公布了美国与前一台机器马力以上的更多。 美国政府对此实物，形成群体情节浇钱投入到超级计算项目的复出和。 美国在2004年恢复其领导地位，并一直保持到现在。
在上周四在中国计算机大会上，研究人员将讨论他们如何使用分子模拟天体物理和生物系统的像新的一样科研领域。 天河- 1A型，这是设在天津的建筑物在国家超级计算机中心，可以进行数学运算在1976年建成约29亿倍的速度比一，超级计算机的最早的。
根据记录，它执行的2.5倍功率10至15每秒数学运算。
Dongarra说先生长期运行中的项目，建立芯片竞争对手英特尔和其他人仍然在进行之中，看起来前途无量。 “这还不能令人信服，但它会在一年或两年，”他说。
他还表示，11月份，当名单出来的时候，他预计第二中文电脑将在前五名，最终投资年。
“日本人来了后卫，真正吸引了人们无处销，”冯先生说。 “随着中国，你可以看到这一个来。”
史蒂芬J.瓦拉赫，一个著名的电脑设计师，淡化了排名上的超级计算机的重要性，采取的头把交椅。
“这很有趣，但它英里的喜欢把自己的四分钟，”瓦拉赫先生说。 “世界并没有停止。 这仅仅是一个时间快照。“
研究实验室往往要花上数周调整他们的系统进行测试以及在标准马力。 但是仅仅因为一个系统可以通过计算每第二锤万亿并不意味着它会做很好的使用它的专门工作，研究人员希望，瓦拉赫先生补充说。
美国已制定计划以使专有元件更快的机器出来，并推动这些系统所使用的软件，使它们便于研究人员使用。 但是，这些计算机保持数年时间，并就目前而言，中国为王。
“他们想证明他们是世界排名第一的，不管它是什么，”瓦拉赫先生说。 “我不责怪他们。” 为中国的高科技鼓掌
页:
[1]
