Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Desk-side mini-supercomputers like the Dell/Cray CX1-iWS provide
even greater processing power by combining several computer mother-
boards into a single case and coordinating the processing power using the
Windows HPC Server operating system. These systems, along with PCs
constructed using technologies such as the Intel X58 “supercomputing
motherboard,” place the raw processing power of a small group of com-
puters behind an interface that functions as a normal desktop computer.
Distributed Computing
Today's supercomputers make use of specialized processing chips and
supercooled information transfer electronics, but their true “speed” advan-
tage comes from distributing pieces of a complex set of data calculations
across multiple CPU or GPU cores. Calculations requiring each step to be
completed and the result used for the next step do not divide into paral-
lel processes well, while other calculations such as weather modeling and
genetic comparisons can be readily split up into smaller subsets and distrib-
uted across multiple processors, with results combined upon completion.
High-end video cards include specialized multicore GPU chips that
can split the rendering process into multiple smaller processes, so that each
small area of the display has its own dedicated core. This power allows
photo-realistic rendering of graphical imagery and advanced multilayered
video content for virtual-world and gaming environment interaction.
NVidia's CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture)-capable GPUs
are also capable of sharing processing loads with the system CPU through
standard C language application design.
Grid and Cluster Computing
Distributed computing can be performed outside high-end supercom-
puting installations by coordinating multiple independent computers
toward a single task. Groups of networked computers can combine their
collective processing power to provide supercomputer-like performance,
although network connectivity will add latency that is not present in true
supercomputers.
An example of collective computing can be found in the evolution
of spam-generating botnets and denial-of-service attacks waged using
