Power Issues in High-performance Computing Arch Davis Davis Systems Engineering This talk will explore the engineering tradeoffs going into the design for a new machine that has power and air-conditioning constraints. What is the future of "green" designs with super-efficient power conversion and CPU-side power throttling? Where does Moore's Law fit into the green future? We will explore these issues as applied to a new cluster computer has been completed for Geosciences (Prof. Guust Nolet, Seismology) with an embedded RAID function in each node, allowing data writes up to 300 Megabytes per second. With a total of 32 Terabytes of storage, this small cluster will support PhD research in the department. Further, the cluster employs extra-low power Opteron processors and a 48 Volt DC power supply. Replacing the veteran Geowulf cluster, the new SirHarold cluster takes half the power and is twice as fast. Additionally, Anthony diColli of AMD, who is a technical representative involved in processor design for low-power computing, will be at the talk for questions on the future of high-performance computing. |