When thinking of supercomputers, what readily comes to mind is their extraordinary capacity for information processing. But at the same time, it is expected that these giant computers will be quite expensive to maintain. Besides, servicing supercomputers calls for abundant floor space and usually an entire building is used exclusively for this purpose. Nonetheless, as the world is becoming increasingly environment-conscious, green supercomputing is becoming the order of the day.
Understanding Green Supercomputing
Green Supercomputing does provide a striking balance between high performance and operational dependability. In the view of their extraordinary capability to perform, supercomputing will demand constant maintenance like all other high-end performing devices. The excessive power consumption will obviously lead to large-scale heat generation and increased frequencies of system breakdowns. Hence, the processors will have to be placed at a distance from one another, with massive cooling systems readily available near their installation. This is also going to add to operational expenses. In fact, the US is spending millions of dollars in functional costs to power supercomputers.
Origin of Supercomputing
The Research and Development in Advanced Network Technology (RADIANT) group located at Los Alamos is where the pioneers introduced Green Destiny, the concept of energy-efficient supercomputing system in compact areas. Wu-Chun Feng, who spearheaded RADIANT’S efforts, along with his team of researchers, experimented with Transmeta Crusoe processors that required less power.
Due to reduced power consumption and the unlikely prospect of any overheating, it was possible to pack these processors more compactly. Green Destiny, with its successful pioneering efforts, contributed immensely to the development of supercomputers.
But the scientist community was divided on its appreciation of Green Destiny achievements. While it was conceded that the overall performance was comparable with the traditional supercomputers at the TOP500 list, a section of scientists complained that Green Destiny was overly keen to appear reliable at the cost of performance. Feng, however, contended that for supercomputing to succeed in a big way, supercomputing in small spaces must first become reality.
Performance of Green Super Computers
Green Destiny's stress on the imperative need for low-power supercomputing led to the concept of supercomputing becoming aware of its own power consumption. The idea was the power should adapt itself to the performance requirements when the system is operational. But, system experts feel that low-power computing has down sides and opine that radical architectural modifications and relative lack of cost-effectiveness are not in line with the prevailing commodity technology. The fact is a blend of commodity-based hard ware and power-knowledge software are used to curtail power without affecting performance.
Prof. Philip Dickens of University of Maine asked his university’s bicycle team members to power through pedaling and for this experiment he used SiCortex energy-efficient supercomputer. However, the truth is green supercomputing has now become unavoidable for the IT industry, and power consumption is a key factor while designing particularly high-end systems. Let us accept the fact that green computing has come to stay and will rule the technology of the future.
References:
Feng, Wu-chun, Feng, Xizhou , & Ge, Rong. (2008). Green supercomputing comes of age. Synergy Lab @ Virginia Tech.
Orfano, Finn. (2010). What is Green Super computing. Brighthub
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