In part one, I talked about how supercomputers handle data, networking, I/O and very large databases, and introduced the Grid concept. In Part two, I will look at special applications of supercomputers and how they will affect our future.
After looking at a traditional supercomputer application done in an untraditional way, I'll be exploring factors limiting performance in commodity cluster computers. These clusters, because of their ease of assembly and low cost, promise to be a major part of future computer environments.
In the scientific community, portals bring a common interface to a diversity of hardware and software resources. They simplify the logistics of access and scheduling. The objective of the portal is to provide easy Web access to distributed resources, including software, data storage and computational facilities.
Portals don't simply tie together a random assembly of computers, they address groups of them, called Grids. Grids are coordinated sets of computer resources which may be distributed over geographic areas and across different institutions. To be part of a grid means the systems have a basic set of common functions that support remote access and control.
Recently for me, earthquakes went from the theoretical to the real. On February 28 at 10:54, I and the rest of the Northwest were treated to a live demo of what a quake really feels like. I found information on the Olympia, WA. event at ANZA Special Events. Scroll down the page to see the recorded waves from that event. The large graph excursions were almost strong enough to knock me off my feet.
After five years without a new release of OS/2, suddenly there are two. Convenience Pack (CP) was released by IBM as an upgrade to Warp V4, including many of the latest Warp Server for e-business components. Another upgrade to OS/2, based on the CP, comes from Serenity Systems as eCommStation (eCS). Serenity Systems has been licensed by IBM to resell OS/2 as a package, including optional Symetric MultiProcessing (SMP) desktop capabilities.
Digital Libraries are indexed and structured to make searches for relevant information much more effective than current search engines. To do this takes a plethora of standards and cooperation, from XML to DCMI to OAI. Also, some updates about OS/2 software.
The terms 'Digital Libraries' and 'Databases' are often used interchangeably, but they are not identical. Digital Libraries usually conform to a Metadata standard such as the Dublin Core. It is sometimes applied to any database that has a browser interface to access the data underneath, regardless of the nature of the storage mechanism.
Today's computers sit on your desk, or in a room in the office building, connected directly to the systems and people they serve. It's a lot like to early days of the industrial revolution, before electric motors. Every shop that needed mechanical power had to have a primary mover such as a water wheel or steam engine at or in the shop, with axles, wheels and pulleys to transfer the power from the primary to where it was used.
Teragrid and the Particle Physics Data Grid are for the future. NASA's IPG and SDSC have operational Meta Clusters. What we learn from these projects will change our future.
NVO, the National Virtual Observatory, has just received a $10 million NSF grant. While this is not enough for the whole job, it is enough to establish a prototype and prove the concept in real use.
Just how challenging is the NVO? Very. Extremely. Mind boggling complex. NVO will advance both science and technology by significant strides. I say this both as a physicist, with a long interest in space and astronomy, and as an senior IT professional. So what, I hear you say. So what indeed.