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Compaq, Contura, Deskpro, Fastart, Compaq Insight Technical Paper Manager, LTE, PageMarq, Systempro, Systempro/LT, prepared by ProLiant, TwinTray, ROMPaq, LicensePaq, QVision, High Performance Technical Computing Group SLT, ProLinea, SmartStart, NetFlex, DirectPlus, (First Edition, July 2000) QuickFind, RemotePaq, BackPaq, TechPaq, SpeedPaq, QuickBack, PaqFax, Presario, SilentCool, Document number: 135D-0900A-USEN Compaq Technical Paper Contents AlphaServer SC: Introduction......................................... 2 Scalable Supercomputing HPTC Requirements........................... 3 Abstract: AlphaServer SC History and Strategy......................................... 4 With the introduction of Compaq alphaServer SC family of supercomputers, some of the fastest systems on the planet AlphaServer SC Systems wear a Compaq label. This is clearly shown by two of these Architecture......................................... 6 new systems debuting in the top 25 supercomputers, as AlphaServer SC Hardware shown by the June, 2000 release of the independent Top 500 Architecture....................................... 11 Supercomputer Sites list at http://wwwtop500.org. AlphaServer SC Interconnect........... 13 While these systems are the first supercomputers to wear the AlphaServer SC Internal compaq name, Compaq technonogy powers 22 of the 50 Communications ............................... 16 fastest supercomputers in the world. In comparison, Sun AlphaServer SC Software Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard each placed a single Architecture....................................... 18 system in the top 150 systems. Programming AlphaServer SC Systems ....................................... 23 This paper explores the new AlphaServer SC family of supercomputers. It covers the history of supercomputing at Software Development and Tools .... 24 Compaq, the architecture and building blocks of the AlphaServer SC family, and presents the unique scalability and upgradability of these systems. While supercomputer discussions often focus on raw hard- ware and peak performance, the real issues revolve around software and management. This paper delves into a range of software-related topics, ranging from parallel programming libraries and development tools through the technologies that allow managing hundreds of processors as a single sys- tem. And, of course, the challenge of debugging a program running on 500 processors. The AlphaServer SC family represents the future of high performance computing; standard processors and system building blocks, high performance interconnects, standard software interfaces and a strong systems focus. Help us improve our technical communication. Let us know what you think about the technical information in this docu- ment. Your feedback is valuable and will help us structure future communications. Please send your comments to: [email protected] AlphaServer SC: Scalable Supercomputing Introduction This paper explores the Compaq AlphaServer SC broad range of performance needs at effective family of supercomputers. It provides a detailed expla- price points and with a high degree of software nation of the hardware, software, and development compatibility. environment for these systems. It is intended to serve as an introduction to the AlphaServer SC family, to pro- Perhaps the most significant aspect of Compaq’s vide as understanding of the design and philosophy and efforts is the system approach taken. Raw hardware is capabilities of these systems, and to position them in not useful unless it can be exploited by applications, the Compaq family. After reading this paper, you will managed and maintained by system managers, and be able to determine if the AlphaServer SC family is a upgraded and enhanced with technology advances. good solution to your technical computing needs and Users, system managers, and business professionals how it will fit into your computing environment. working with large computer systems are very aware of these issues! Compaq’s development efforts are The AlphaServer SC family of supercomputers focused as much on software, system management and leverages Compaq’s technology to deliver flexible, operations, maintenance and upgradability as on raw powerful systems offering unique scalability and hardware performance. upgradability. By using a combination of existing processor and system designs, high performance inter- The system approach becomes critical when you connect and innovative software, Compaq is able to consider that AlphaServer SC systems will scale to deliver true supercomputer performance at affordable 4,000 processors in the year 2001, and to 16,000 (in supercomputer terms!) price points. In addition, the processors by 2004. AlphaServer is built on the newest industry-standard software models, providing excellent portability of Key Features applications. • Up to 512 667MHz Alpha 21264a (EV67) processors As computer simulation becomes the tool of in 1999 choice in research, engineering and industry, the size • Up to 4,096 700+MHz Alpha 21264a (EV67) proces- and sophistication of problems is growing dramatically sors in 2001 and the time allowed to solve these problems is shrink- ing. High Performance Technical Computing (HPTC) • Over 16,000 Alpha 21364 (EV7) Microprocessors is required to solve these large problems in an accept- within three years able time. As computer models grow more viable as an • More than 6 GB/sec of bisection bandwidth alternative to physical experimentation, the economic benefits of high performance systems grow. High • Less than 3µ seconds of user-level latency Performance Technical Computing has moved from an • Optimized MPI and Shmem parallel processing esoteric field to a broad based requirement. libraries Compaq is a leader in developing and delivering • Comprehensive parallel development software high performance systems. With the introduction of the • Very Large Memory Support AlphaServer SC family, Compaq is delivering every- thing from low cost desktop systems to the most pow- • Hot swap and hot add components erful supercomputers. Compaq is not insisting on a • Redundant remote and local console subsystem single technical path for HPTC – a wide range of tech- options nologies are supported, including traditional SMP, clus- ters and large distributed processing systems. • High availability and reliability features engineered throughout A common characteristic of all approaches used by Compaq is to develop building blocks that meet • “Single System” management model the demands of HPTC and then combine them in a vari- • Cluster and parallel file systems ety of ways. This approach enables Compaq to meet a 2 AlphaServer SC: Scalable Supercomputing HPTC Requirements High performance technical computing has tradi- Supercomputers are designed to handle this mas- tionally placed three primary demands on system archi- sive workload. These machines have been designed for tectures: floating point computation (specifically 64-bit maximum speed, using fast processors, high perform- double precision floating point), memory bandwidth ance memory and I/O subsystems. They provide sup- and memory size. port for multiple giga-bytes of physical memory and use techniques such as vector processing