Tuesday, February 1,2005 @ 6:35pm
UIUC launches 640-node Mac supercomputing cluster
The University of Illinois is building another Mac supercomputer, as noted by AppleInsider earlier today (and subsequently by other web publications). The 640-node Turing Cluster will use dual-processor Xserve G5s running at 2GHz and a high-bandwidth, low-latency Myrinet network to reach a theoretical peak of nearly 10 teraflops. The system, in the final stages of testing, is replaces an Intel-based system using systems from Dell and HP, and is almost fully function, pending another month of stability testing. Funding for the project was provided by Apple under a combination purchase/donation agreement along with financial contributions from various university departments. It will be used a limited basis for use in research or class projects by UIUC students, faculty, and staff affiliated with the Computational Science and Engineering Program or one of the other sponsoring units. UIC is also considering doubling the current cluster size, according to the report.