$5.2 million, off-the-shelf components and just three months was what this computing wizard needed to develop SYSTEM X or "BIG MAC", the third fastest supercomputer in the world. He is Srinidhi Varadarajan and he builds Supercomputers at Virginia Tech.
As the chief designer and architect of SYSTEM X, he conceived and built a world class supercomputer to enable big science and engineering research at a price lesser than one-fifth of the cheapest supercomputer available in the top 10.Touted as "the world’s most powerful and cheapest home-built supercomputer", SYSTEM X ran at 12.25 Teraflops, (20.24 peak). It is composed of 1100 G5 dual layer processors and its primary communications architecture is built on InfiniBand's card. It has two ports on each node connecting into the network at 20 Gbps full-duplex bandwidth. Each node has a connection open to each other node and there is the potential to hold 150K connections per node which translates into very low latency of less than 10 microseconds.
Built with a goal to provide easy access for new investigators and exploratory research, this high-performance supercomputer puts researching power into the hands of more scientists at a price many institutions can afford, promising a scientific renaissance.
The man behind this pioneering work, Srinidhi Varadharajan, presently continues his teaching and research work in the field of high-end computing as an associate professor and Director of Centre Of High-End Computing at the Virginia Tech.
Dr. Varadarajan is the recipient of the ComputerWorld Honors Award in the Science Category 2004, a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, the Egg Factory Technology Innovation award and a Faculty Fellow award from the College of Engineering, Virginia Tech. Technology Review, MIT’S magazine of innovation honored him in 2004 as one of the top 100 young innovators transforming technology.
Come this PRAGYAN and be a part of the tantalizing and interactive video conference with this computing virtuoso to enjoy the thrilling ride in the fast lanes of computing.
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