19th Dec 2013

The first Irish Supercomputer List – headed by CCT staff in collaboration with researchers at other world-class universities including DCU, the University of Helsinki and Oxford University – ranks the fastest high performance computers in Ireland. The list is advised by a committee with industry and academic members from IBM, Boston Limited, SGI Incorporated, and Queen’s University Belfast. The first list was released at the end of 2013, with two of these computers in the top 500 globally.

The project was launched to raise the profile of High Performance Computing (HPC) in Ireland and abroad. The list, at www.IrishSupercomputerList.org, will be updated twice annually and there is a continuously open call for participation from users and maintainers of Irish HPC installations.

Topping the list is Fionn, a brand new installation from the Irish Centre for High-End Computing, with a performance of 140 TFlop/s, also earning it a spot on the global Top500 List. Just behind Fionn is a private industry machine (anonymously submitted) with 128 TFlop/s, also a new Top500 entrant. Also featuring on the list are a number of former Top500 finishers.

All-in-all there are 15 machines represented from industry, academia and government/research institutions, collectively weighing in at 589 TFlop/s, more than half-way to 1 PFlop/s, and (if combined) enough to place at #54 in the world!

Ireland has grown over the last two decades into a high-end centre of excellence in the IT sector with most of the major multinational IT companies having a strong presence. Despite this, there has not previously been any record of the performance and type of HPC installations which are based on the island of Ireland. The list is similar to www.top500.org, which has been tracking the fastest supercomputers globally for 20 years.

Ireland has been significantly upping its game in Supercomputing lately, and here is how Ireland ranks globally:

• Astonishingly, Ireland is world number 5 in number of Top500 supercomputers per capita, behind only the United States, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden! (see graphic below)
• Ireland has more Top500 computing power (Rmax) than: Taiwan, Denmark, Belgium, and Austria
• Ireland has the same number of Top500 machines (system count) as: Spain, Poland, Hong Kong, Finland and Israel

Speaking of the launch of the November 2013 Irish Supercomputing List, Dr. Brett Becker, of CCT said:

“This is the beginning of a comprehensive record of the HPC infrastructure in Ireland. The main aims of the project are to put Ireland on the global HPC map, and to put the Irish HPC landscape in perspective. Ireland is punching far above its weight when compared to many other countries with much larger populations. We are proud of that, and want to showcase what is happening here.”

For more, see: www.IrishSupercomputerList.org