MareNostrum
Encyclopedia
MareNostrum (ˌmaɾəˈnɔstɾum, ˌmaɾeˈnostɾun) is a supercomputer
in the Barcelona
Supercomputing Center, the second most powerful in Spain
. It was presented by IBM
and María Jesús San Segundo, the Spanish
Minister of Education and Science. It's one of the seven supercomputers of the Spanish Supercomputing Network
.
The supercomputer consists of 2,560 JS21 blade computing nodes, each with 2 dual-core
IBM 64-bit
PowerPC
970MP
processor
s running at 2.3 GHz for 10,240 CPU
s in total.
The computing nodes of MareNostrum communicate primarily through a high bandwidth, low latency Myrinet
network consisting of integrated Myrinet adapters on each server blade and switched fabric
of 12 Myrinet switches. In addition, there is a more traditional local area network consisting of Gigabit Ethernet
adapters and five Gigabit Ethernet switches (one Force10
E600 and four Cisco
3550s). Servers are connected to this network by over 180 Ethernet switching blades made by BLADE Network Technologies
. The MareNostrum supercomputer has 20 TB
of RAM
and 280 TB of external disk storage
for persistent storage.
MareNostrum features BladeCenter JS21 blade server
s running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
10SP2. It is capable of 62.63 teraflops and a peak performance of 94.21 teraflops according to the LINPACK benchmark. It occupies only 120 m²
(less than half a basketball
court) and weighs 40,000 kg
. The original installation was largely constructed in two months in San Fernando de Henares, Madrid
(Madrid
) and was installed in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center
in Barcelona
. It has since been upgraded with additional processors to reach the current total.
The supercomputer is used in human genome
research
, protein
research, astrophysical simulations, weather forecasting
, geological or geophysical modeling, and the design of new drugs
. It was booted up for the first time on 12 April 2005, and is available to the national and international scientific community.
Mare Nostrum
("our sea") was the Roman
name for the Mediterranean Sea
. The supercomputer is housed in the deconsecrated
Chapel Torre Girona at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona
, Spain
.
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...
in the Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
Supercomputing Center, the second most powerful in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It was presented by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and María Jesús San Segundo, the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Minister of Education and Science. It's one of the seven supercomputers of the Spanish Supercomputing Network
Spanish Supercomputing Network
The Spanish Supercomputing Network is a scientific network created by the Spanish Education Ministry. The network is composed by several supercomputers distributed over Spain...
.
The supercomputer consists of 2,560 JS21 blade computing nodes, each with 2 dual-core
Multi-core (computing)
A multi-core processor is a single computing component with two or more independent actual processors , which are the units that read and execute program instructions...
IBM 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
970MP
PowerPC 970
The PowerPC 970, PowerPC 970FX, PowerPC 970GX, and PowerPC 970MP, are 64-bit Power Architecture processors from IBM introduced in 2002. When used in Apple Inc. machines, they were dubbed the PowerPC G5....
processor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
s running at 2.3 GHz for 10,240 CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
s in total.
The computing nodes of MareNostrum communicate primarily through a high bandwidth, low latency Myrinet
Myrinet
Myrinet, ANSI/VITA 26-1998, is a high-speed local area networking system designed by Myricom to be used as an interconnect between multiple machines to form computer clusters. Myrinet has much lower protocol overhead than standards such as Ethernet, and therefore provides better throughput, less...
network consisting of integrated Myrinet adapters on each server blade and switched fabric
Switched fabric
Switched fabric, switching fabric, or just fabric, is a network topology where network nodes connect with each other via one or more network switches . The term is popular in telecommunication, Fibre Channel storage area networks and other high-speed networks, including InfiniBand...
of 12 Myrinet switches. In addition, there is a more traditional local area network consisting of Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second , as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2008 standard. It came into use beginning in 1999, gradually supplanting Fast Ethernet in wired local networks where it performed...
adapters and five Gigabit Ethernet switches (one Force10
Force10
Force10 Networks , is a United States company which develops and markets 10 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet switches for computer networking to corporate, educational, and governmental customers. It has offices in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region.In 2011 Dell announced that they...
E600 and four Cisco
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
3550s). Servers are connected to this network by over 180 Ethernet switching blades made by BLADE Network Technologies
BLADE Network Technologies
Until its acquisition by IBM in October 2010, BLADE Network Technologies , based in Santa Clara, CA, was a supplier of Gigabit and 10G Ethernet network infrastructure solutions that reside in blade servers and server and storage racks...
. The MareNostrum supercomputer has 20 TB
Terabyte
The terabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The prefix tera means 1012 in the International System of Units , and therefore 1 terabyte is , or 1 trillion bytes, or 1000 gigabytes. 1 terabyte in binary prefixes is 0.9095 tebibytes, or 931.32 gibibytes...
of RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
and 280 TB of external disk storage
Computer storage
Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers....
for persistent storage.
MareNostrum features BladeCenter JS21 blade server
Blade server
A blade server is a stripped down server computer with a modular design optimized to minimize the use of physical space and energy. Whereas a standard rack-mount server can function with a power cord and network cable, blade servers have many components removed to save space, minimize power...
s running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is a Linux distribution supplied by SUSE and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for servers, mainframes, and workstations but can be installed on desktop computers for testing as well. New major versions are released at an interval of 3-4 years, while...
10SP2. It is capable of 62.63 teraflops and a peak performance of 94.21 teraflops according to the LINPACK benchmark. It occupies only 120 m²
Square metre
The square metre or square meter is the SI derived unit of area, with symbol m2 . It is defined as the area of a square whose sides measure exactly one metre...
(less than half a basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
court) and weighs 40,000 kg
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
. The original installation was largely constructed in two months in San Fernando de Henares, Madrid
San Fernando de Henares, Madrid
San Fernando de Henares is a municipality in Spain, in the province and autonomous community of Madrid.It has an area of 39.9 km² and 36,244 inhabitants.Its agrigultural products include olives, cereals, vegetables, cattle and wool...
(Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
) and was installed in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center
Barcelona Supercomputing Center
Barcelona Supercomputing Center , also known by the acronym BSC, is a public research center located in Barcelona, Spain. It hosts MareNostrum, Europe's 25th most powerful supercomputer as of November 2009....
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. It has since been upgraded with additional processors to reach the current total.
The supercomputer is used in human genome
Genome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
, protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
research, astrophysical simulations, weather forecasting
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
, geological or geophysical modeling, and the design of new drugs
Medication
A pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.- Classification :...
. It was booted up for the first time on 12 April 2005, and is available to the national and international scientific community.
Mare Nostrum
Mare Nostrum
Mare Nostrum may refer to:*Mare Nostrum, the Roman term for the Mediterranean Sea, adopted by Italian nationalists and fascists.*Mare Nostrum , a Spanish-language novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez...
("our sea") was the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
name for the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. The supercomputer is housed in the deconsecrated
Deconsecration
Deconsecration is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The same act when performed by a member of a differing religion may be considered a curse by some religions and not a complete removal of the...
Chapel Torre Girona at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.