NCSA upgrades SMP capabilities with IBM pSeries 690 systems

by Katherine Caponi

NCSA has decided to replace the SGI Origin2000 systems with a set of IBM pSeries 690 systems. There will be twelve systems each with 32 IBM POWER4 processors running at 1.3 gigahertz. Each processor has a peak performance of 5.2 gigaflops per second, and each system will have a minimum of 64 gigabytes RAM. The systems will each include four 2X FiberChannel interfaces and four Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interfaces. NCSA will be configuring four of the systems with additional memory to bring them up to 256 gigabytes each.

The system is expected to enter a Friendly User state by early December 2002 and a production state in February 2003. As the Friendly User period approaches, a follow-up announcement will be made and a web form will be provided to request Friend User access to the systems.

NCSA's SGI Origin2000 systems will continue to be in service until September 30, 2003. After this date, any NCSA Origin2000 systems still in service will be decommissioned. Due primarily to space considerations in the NCSA machine room as new SMPs and cluster hardware for the TeraGrid project are brought in, a limited number of Origin2000 systems may be decommissioned earlier than the September 30, 2003 date. NCSA assures that sufficient systems will remain to support allocations on the Origin2000 systems through September 30, 2003.

NCSA is planning an Application Transition Workshop for early in 2003 to assist with issues related to moving applications from the Origin2000 environment to the p690 environment. As workshop planning develops, additional information will be made available.

In addition, principle investigators (PIs) will have the opportunity to transfer allocations from the SGI Origin2000s to the IBM p690 systems when the new systems become production resources. For those PIs with proposals submitted for the December Alliance Allocations Board (AAB), time will be allocated on the Origin2000 systems at that review.

If you should have any questions, please contact John Towns, email the NCSA Consulting Office, or call (217) 244-1144.