Cray XC30

The Cray XC30 is a massively parallel multiprocessor supercomputer manufactured by Cray. It consists of Intel Xeon processors, with optional Nvidia Tesla or Xeon Phi accelerators, connected together by Cray's proprietary "Aries" interconnect, stored in air-cooled or liquid-cooled cabinets.^[1] Each liquid-cooled cabinet can contain up to 48 blades,^[2] each with eight CPU sockets, and uses 90 kW of power.^[3] The XC series supercomputers are available with the Cray DataWarp applications I/O accelerator technology.^[4]

In 2014, Cray XC30 systems appear prominently on the TOP500 supercomputer lists.^[5]

Deployed Cray XC30 systems

Europe

• The UK's national high-performance computing facility in Edinburgh has a 118,080-core XC30 called "ARCHER,"^[6] which cost £43 million.^[7]
• There is a 115,984-core XC30 system called "Piz Daint" at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre, located in southern Switzerland.^[8]
• The ECMWF has two XC30 systems used for weather prediction.^[9]
• The Deutscher Wetterdienst has two XC30s (for redundancy), also used for weather prediction.^[10]
• The Danish Meteorological Institute operates a dual XC30 (located at the Icelandic Meteorological Office due to cheaper electricity).^[11]

United States

• The NERSC has a 133,824-core XC30 called "Edison."^[12]
• A 225,984-core XC30 system is installed at an undisclosed government location.^[13]
• The Air Force Research Laboratory has an XC30 called "Lightning."^[14]
• The US Naval Academy has an XC30 hosted at the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, named "Grace" after Rear Admiral Grace Hopper.^[15]

Australia

• The Pawsey Supercomputing Centre has a 9,440-core XC30 called "Galaxy." One chassis of this contains GPUs; the rest is all-CPU. Its November 2013 and June 2014, TOP500 entries were before the GPU chassis was installed. This system is used for radio astronomy.^[16]

Notes

1. XC30 Brochure 2013.
2. XC30 Technology web page 2014.
3. XC30 Specifications web page 2014.
4. http://www.cray.com/products/computing/xc-series?tab=datawarp
5. Top500 List June 2014 2014.
6. "About ARCHER".
7. "ARCHER Supercomputer Unveiled at Edinburgh". hpcwire.com. 25 March 2014.
8. Top500 CSCS site 2014.
9. Top500 ECMWF site 2014.
10. DCK DWD article 2013.
11. "DMI's Thor og Freyja fejret på Island" [DMI's Thor and Freyja celebrated in Iceland]. Danish Meteorological Institute. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
12. NERSC Edison web page 2014.
13. Top500 USA government site 2014.
14. Barrie Barber (16 December 2015). "Wright-Patterson Unveils One of World's Largest Supercomputers". military.com. The Dayton Daily News.
15. "US Naval Academy Dedicates New Supercomputer". US Department of Defense. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
16. "Our Systems". Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. Retrieved 12 November 2016.

References

• "Cray XC30 Brochure" (PDF). Cray Inc. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "Cray XC30 & XC30-AC Technology". Cray Inc. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "Cray XC30 Specifications". Cray Inc. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "Top500 Supercomputer - June 2014". Top500.org. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "Top500 Supercomputer Site for Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS)". Top500.org. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "Top500 Supercomputer Site for EPSRC/University of Edinburgh". Top500.org. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "Top500 Supercomputer Site for ECMWF". Top500.org. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "Cray Supercomputer Powers German Weather Service". iNET Interactive. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "NERSC Edison". US Department of Energy, Office of Science. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "Top500 Supercomputer Site for Government, USA". Top500.org. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
• "Top500 Supercomputer Site for Galaxy/Pawsey Supercomputing Centre". Top500.org. Retrieved 11 November 2014.