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ePaper created 2013-04-09, 17:43:56 | version 1.25.6
11 their model connections between neu- rons at great distances from each other. “Experience teaches us that with a new supercomputer generation it is not only possible to produce better and more precise simulations but also that we suddenly come across surprising phenomena which only become observ- able with the size of the simulated com- plex system,” says Prof. Thomas Lippert, head of JSC. He conceived the idea of SimLabs so that scientists from a wide range of disciplines can effectively ex- ploit the potential of the Jülich super- computers. The idea is that a small team of highly qualified experts, who them- selves use supercomputers to perform research in their own disciplines, pro- vide support for other groups of scien- tists (see also ‘Multidisciplinary assis- tance’). DEVELOPING FUTURE COMPUTERS However, the experts at JSC are not satisfied with merely operating the su- percomputers and providing user sup- port. Together with various commercial companies, they are involved in develop- ing the computers of the future (see also ‘Cooperations with companies’). By 2020, they intend to increase the perfor- mance of such computers by a factor of 200 in comparison to JUQUEEN – with- out any increase in energy consumption. The quest for more energy efficiency is driven by economic and ecological mo- tives. Even today the costs of operating a supercomputer are in the same order as its purchase price. And German com- puter centres consume vast amounts of electricity equal to that generated by four medium-sized coal-fired power plants – with corresponding emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2. It is therefore not surprising that the topic of energy efficiency is high on JSC’s agenda. The staff at JSC have al- ready created software tools showing how much electricity is consumed by the individual components of supercomput- ers such as JUQUEEN during simula- tions. This is important for identifying where future energy efficiency measures can be tweaked. One thing is already clear: “In this respect, the object is to further improve access to the working memory and mass memory as well as the input and output components,” says technology expert Thomas Fieseler. :: Dr. Frank Frick 1|2013 Research in Jülich Prof. Thomas Lippert, head of the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, regards improving the supercomputers’ energy efficiency as a key task. COVER STORY | Supercomputing Cooperations with companies At the Exascale Innovation Center, JSC works together with IBM on developing technologies for su- percomputers of coming genera- tions. At the same time, JSC is al- so concerned with future cluster computers – modular construc- tions of conventional PC compo- nents and fast networks. To this end, JSC operates the ExaCluster Laboratory with Intel and ParTec. Finally, in collaboration with NVIDIA, JSC is investigating how graphics processing units can be used for the supercomputers of the future.