HP to deliver supercomputer to DOD

Hewlett-Packard announced Monday that the company will deliver a supercomputer to the military in September for advanced research related to weapon system design.

The 1,024-node Cluster Platform 4000, which is based on HP ProLiant DL145 servers with Advanced Micro Devices’ Opteron processors, runs the Linux operating system. The platform uses Voltaire's InfiniBand high-speed interconnect technology with HP's XC System Software to provide cluster management capabilities, according to a statement released by HP.

The HP Cluster Platform 4000 is supported by 100 terabytes of storage in the company’s StorageWorks Scalable File Share system. The 12-node system delivers high bandwidth and faster and easier access to shared storage, according to the statement.

The HP supercomputer will go to the Aeronautical Systems Center Major Shared Resource Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The 10 teraflop system will allow the Defense Department to speed research, collaboration, simulation, and test and evaluation of advanced weapons concepts and systems.

“HP’s Unified Cluster Portfolio will enable us to capitalize on the tremendous advances in price/performance provided by industry-standard technologies, while providing a fully supported, robust production system for our critical workload,” said Steve Wourms, the center's director, in the statement.

“The simulations and test protocols enabled by this supercomputer solution will be among the most sophisticated in the world, powering advances in access, integration and collaboration across the agency's research efforts,” said Tom Johnson, director of worldwide defense solutions at HP, in the statement.

The center is one of DOD’s four shared resource centers. They are part of the department’s High Performance Computing Modernization Program.