The Fujitsu Primergy high-performance distributed-memory cluster based on Intel Sandy Bridge 8-core processors (2.6 GHz) is currently being installed in the new datacentre of the NCI NF.

It will comprise:

• 57,472 cores in the compute nodes;
• Approximately 160 TBytes of main memory;
• Infiniband FDR interconnect; and
• Approximately 10 PBytes of usable fast filesystem (for short-term scratch space).

This will provide a:

• Peak performance of approximately 1.2 PFlops -- 8.6 times that of the current peak system;
• Sustained performance of approximately 6.7 times the current peak system (i.e., an aggregate SPECfp_rate2006 of 1.6M); and
• Filesystem performance which is 6.0 times that of the current system; and consistent with NCI's requirements that the system be well-balanced.

As with the current peak system, Vayu, the unit of shared memory parallelism is the node, which comprises dual 8-core processors, i.e., 16 cores. The memory specification across the nodes is heterogeneous in order to provide a configuration capable of accommodating the requirements of most applications, and providing also for large-memory jobs. Accordingly:

• Two-thirds of the nodes have 32 GBytes, i.e., 2 GBytes/core;
• Almost one-third of the nodes have 64 GBytes, i.e., 4 GBytes/core; while
• Two (2) per cent of the nodes have 128 GBytes, i.e., 8 GBytes.core.

The corresponding proportions for Vayu are: 24 GBytes/node, 96.5%; 48 GBytes/node, 3.2%; and 96 GBytes/node, 0.3%.

The new system will be configured with an operating system environment very similar to that of the existing system, therefore providing an easy route for the migration of user codes, and the maintenance of the application software base. It is also hoped that these similarities will facilitate a quick transition, thereby avoiding the costly requirement of operating two large-scale systems in parallel for any extended period.

It is intended that the new system will be commissioned in its entirety by January 2013, with updates, on this schedule and progress, being provided to you through this email list. We will also update you on matters related to transition arrangements in coming months.