Cray T90
Encyclopedia
The Cray T90 series was the last of a line of vector processing supercomputer
s manufactured by Cray Research, Inc, superseding the Cray C90
series. The first machines were shipped in 1995, and featured a 2.2 ns (450 MHz) clock cycle and two-wide vector pipes, for a peak speed of 1.8 gigaflops per processor; the high clock speed arises from the CPUs being built using ECL
logic. As with the Cray J90
, each CPU contained a scalar data cache, in addition to the instruction buffering/caching which has always been in Cray architectures.
Configurations were available with between four and 32 processors, and with either IEEE 754 or traditional Cray floating point
arithmetic; the processors shared an SRAM
main memory of up to eight gigabytes, with a bandwidth of three 64-bit words per cycle per CPU (giving a 32-CPU STREAM bandwidth of 360 gigabytes per second). The clock signal is distributed via a fibre-optic harness to the processors.
The T90 series was available in three variants, the T94 (one to four processors), T916 (eight or 16 processors) and T932 (16 or 32 processors).
It is widely considered as being slightly ahead of the state of the art at the time it was shipped; the systems were never particularly reliable. At launch, a 32-processor T932 cost $39 million.
Cray T90 systems were installed, amongst other places, at least three US government sites, at NAVOCEANO in Mississippi (Bay St. Louis) USA, at NTT
and NIED
in Japan, at the Ford Motor Company
and at General Motors
, at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
, at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, and at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique
in France.
The system chassis weighs ten tons, contains four tons of fluorinert
coolant, and is approximately the shape and size of a very large chest freezer, paneled in black and gold plastic.
Its successor, some years after the last T90s shipped, was the Cray X1
.
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
s manufactured by Cray Research, Inc, superseding the Cray C90
Cray C90
The Cray C90 series was a vector processor supercomputer launched by Cray Research in 1991. The C90 was a development of the Cray Y-MP architecture. Compared to the Y-MP, the C90 processor had a dual vector pipeline and a faster 4.1 ns clock cycle , which together gave three times the...
series. The first machines were shipped in 1995, and featured a 2.2 ns (450 MHz) clock cycle and two-wide vector pipes, for a peak speed of 1.8 gigaflops per processor; the high clock speed arises from the CPUs being built using ECL
Emitter coupled logic
In electronics, emitter-coupled logic , is a logic family that achieves high speed by using an overdriven BJT differential amplifier with single-ended input, whose emitter current is limited to avoid the slow saturation region of transistor operation....
logic. As with the Cray J90
Cray J90
The Cray J90 series was an air-cooled vector processor supercomputer first sold by Cray Research in 1994. The J90 evolved from the Cray Y-MP EL minisupercomputer, and is compatible with Y-MP software, running the same UNICOS operating system. The J90 supported up to 32 CMOS processors with a 10 ns...
, each CPU contained a scalar data cache, in addition to the instruction buffering/caching which has always been in Cray architectures.
Configurations were available with between four and 32 processors, and with either IEEE 754 or traditional Cray floating point
Floating point
In computing, floating point describes a method of representing real numbers in a way that can support a wide range of values. Numbers are, in general, represented approximately to a fixed number of significant digits and scaled using an exponent. The base for the scaling is normally 2, 10 or 16...
arithmetic; the processors shared an SRAM
Static random access memory
Static random-access memory is a type of semiconductor memory where the word static indicates that, unlike dynamic RAM , it does not need to be periodically refreshed, as SRAM uses bistable latching circuitry to store each bit...
main memory of up to eight gigabytes, with a bandwidth of three 64-bit words per cycle per CPU (giving a 32-CPU STREAM bandwidth of 360 gigabytes per second). The clock signal is distributed via a fibre-optic harness to the processors.
The T90 series was available in three variants, the T94 (one to four processors), T916 (eight or 16 processors) and T932 (16 or 32 processors).
It is widely considered as being slightly ahead of the state of the art at the time it was shipped; the systems were never particularly reliable. At launch, a 32-processor T932 cost $39 million.
Cray T90 systems were installed, amongst other places, at least three US government sites, at NAVOCEANO in Mississippi (Bay St. Louis) USA, at NTT
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
, commonly known as NTT, is a Japanese telecommunications company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ranked the 31st in Fortune Global 500, NTT is the largest telecommunications company in Asia, and the second-largest in the world in terms of revenue....
and NIED
Nied
The Nied is a river in Lorraine, France, and Saarland, Germany, left tributary of the Saar River. It has two headstreams, the Nied allemande and the Nied française , that join in Condé-Northen....
in Japan, at the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
and at General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory is a laboratory in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration /Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research . The current director is Dr. V...
, at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, and at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
The Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
in France.
The system chassis weighs ten tons, contains four tons of fluorinert
Fluorinert
Fluorinert is the trademarked brand name for the line of electronics coolant liquids sold commercially by 3M. It is an electrically insulating, stable fluorocarbon-based fluid which is used in various cooling applications. It is mainly used for cooling electronics...
coolant, and is approximately the shape and size of a very large chest freezer, paneled in black and gold plastic.
Its successor, some years after the last T90s shipped, was the Cray X1
Cray X1
The Cray X1 is a non-uniform memory access, vector processor supercomputer manufactured and sold by Cray Inc. since 2003. The X1 is often described as the unification of the Cray T90, Cray SV1, and Cray T3E architectures into a single machine...
.