Complicated battle scenarios are to be run on US
Department of Defense Linux-based supercomputers.
The Pentagon is using two 256-processor Linux Networx Evolocity
cluster supercomputers to conduct various disaster simulations.
One computer has been installed at a High Performance Computing
Center in Dayton, Ohio, the other is in Hawaii at the US Air
Force's Maui High Performance Computing Center.
The purchase is part of a technology initiative known as the
Technology Insertion 2004 programme, designed to provide the
defence department with the most current technology to conduct
various simulations.
The Linux machines replaced three-year-old, 512-processor
clusters that were not powerful enough to conduct the military
simulations now being done by the agency.
The clusters can simulate moving 3,000 troops among 1 million
civilian vehicles.
The computers will one day be used for more immediate purposes
said David Morton, technical director at the Maui centre. "This is
still bleeding edge, but it will eventually be used for training.
It's still in the lab, but these same capabilities will move out to
support actual war battles," he said.
Kevin Benedict, programme manager at the Maui centre, said, "Our
selection methods are rigorous to ensure the technology we adopt is
reliable, robust and mature enough to support our demanding
environments. The Linux cluster from Linux Networx has proven to be
a high productivity system and is helping this centre achieve our
computing objectives."
The clusters are part of a larger contract Linux Networx won
with the defence agency earlier this year to deliver a total of six
cluster computer systems, including a 2,132-processor system Linux
Networx is now building for the Army Research Laboratory.
Written by
LinuxWorld staff