The high-performance computing (HPC) industry is converging in Denver this week for SuperComputing 2017. Representatives from universities, hardware providers, system designers, cloud services, semiconductor and interconnect suppliers (Samtec!) and other participants are sharing ideas and launching new products at this annual event.
Samtec’s team of technical experts are roaming the convention floor, attending classes and visiting with partners and customers. Stay tuned to our blog this week for the latest highlights shaping the supercomputing, data center and cloud services industries.
Personalized SuperComputer
Organizations like the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center provide university, government and industry researchers with access to the most powerful supercomputing systems in the world. Enterprises – public and private – have the scale, resources and clout to leverage the computing power needed to run advanced algorithms. What about the individual researcher?
Cloud services are transforming corporate computing needs. It was just a matter of time before “the cloud” got to supercomputing. San Francisco start-up Rescale is driving HPC to the cloud as a leading simulation and HPC solution provider
Rescale offers industry-leading software platforms and hardware infrastructure for companies to perform scientific and engineering simulations. Instead of accessing a supercomputing cluster, individual researchers can use the Rescale platform to access the simulation tool of their choice through the cloud.
FPGAs in the Cloud
Many HPC applications leverage the benefits of FPGAs – fast-speeds, ease-of-use, configurability, etc. – in their solutions. This was typically accomplished via adding FPGA accelerator cards or servers within the supercomputer to help offload system processing.
Increasingly, system architects are leveraging cloud services as next-gen solutions are brought to market. If x86 supercomputing solutions are accessed via the cloud, why can’t FPGAs as well?
Xilinx recently announced a collaboration with Huawei to develop a new accelerated cloud service. The new platform that enables users to develop, deploy and publish new FPGA-based services and applications on cloud solutions.
At SC17, Xilinx is demonstrating several new platforms leveraging cloud services from leading providers like AWS, Azure and others. One example shows how Xilinx can accelerate machine learning image classification via AWS.
Samtec 28Gbps Product Demonstrator
Designing hardware solutions for supercomputing – servers, FPGA accelerators, storage, networking etc. – forces engineers to think at the channel or system level instead of just at the component level. The interaction of semiconductors, PCBs, connectors and cable assemblies must be optimized to achieve the highest data rates.
Samtec has developed the 28G System Demonstrator for just that purpose. This solution illustrates how electronic components might be used in a real system, under real constraints. It validates full-system performance across cost-effective mid-loss PCBs, connectors, copper cable assemblies and optical cable assemblies.
