CSC 456 Spring 2012/11b AB

Large-Scale Multiprocessors

Manufacturers

There are several different manufacturers of processors and cabinets that can be used in large-scale multiprocessor configurations. Some examples of these can be found in the following tables.

Table 1: Processor Manufacturers

Manufacturer	Processor	Cores	Clock Rate	Architecture
Fujitsu	SPARC64 VIIIfx 128 Gflop<ref name="fujitsu proc"/>	8	2.0 GHz	SPARC
Intel	Xeon 7500<ref name="intel proc"/>	8	1.733-2.667 GHz	Nehalem
IBM	POWER7<ref name="ibm proc"/>	8	2.4-4.25 GHz	Power ISA v.2.06
AMD	Opteron 6100<ref name="amd proc"/>	12	1.7-2.4 GHz	Direct Connect 2.0

Please add more info on these processors, e.g., tables for #s of cores, processor type, OS, etc. ... some of this should be available at top500.org.

Table 2: Cabinet Manufacturers

Manufacturer	Cabinet	Blade Count
SuperMicro	MP Superserver 8064B-TRLF<ref name="supermicro chassis"/>	4
HP	Integrity Superdome 2<ref name="hp chassis"/>	32
IBM	BladeCenter HT<ref name="ibm chassis"/>	12

The course contains nothing about cabinets yet, but it seems like an interesting area. Please explore the tradeoffs in cabinet design, and say who has chosen which design and why.

References

<references> <ref name="fujitsu proc">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARC64_VIIIfx</ref> <ref name="intel proc">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon#6500.2F7500-series_.22Beckton.22</ref> <ref name="ibm proc">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power7</ref> <ref name="amd proc">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opteron#Opteron_.2845_nm_SOI.29</ref> <ref name="supermicro chassis">http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/4U/8046/SYS-8046B-TRLF.cfm</ref> <ref name="hp chassis">http://h20341.www2.hp.com/integrity/us/en/high-end/integrity-high-end-servers-superdome2.html</ref> <ref name="ibm chassis">http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/hardware/chassis/bladeht/index.html</ref> </references>