Billionaire Thinks in Trillions for His Computer Designs
米Sun Microsystemsの創設者Andreas Bechtolsheimが開発したスーパーコンピュータ“Constellation”の話。日本のスーパーコンピュータはもう陳腐化？
Today, at a high-performance computing conference in Dresden, Germany, he plans to introduce his newest machine: a supercomputer to be named the Sun Constellation System that will compete for the title as the world痴 fastest when installation is complete this year.
当たり前だがポイントはデータ通信（スイッチMagnum）の部分。InfiniBandベースで3456ポートで構成する。
Mr. Bechtolsheim thought he had found a solution to that problem by modifying an industry standard data switch, making it possible for any of the 13,000-plus Advanced Micro Devices Barcelona microprocessors to communicate with each other more than 10 times as fast as with existing switches.
Sun to Provide New Details About Massive Computer
同じコンファレンスで米IBMもスーパーコンピュータ“Blue Gene/P”を発表。従来に比べ3倍の性能で，Sunを突き放す。
IBM -- which, like Sun, is making announcements at a supercomputer conference in Dresden, Germany -- says it is nearly tripling the performance of a design called Blue Gene that is used at Livermore. Sometime next year, IBM hopes to install one of its new Blue Gene/P systems that can reach a quadrillion operations per second, a milestone called a "petaflop," said Herb Schultz, director of IBM's deep-computing effort.
