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SEOUL, South Korea—Demand for high-performance computing clusters (HPCs) continues to grow in Korea, which now ranks seventh in the world in supercomputing installations, according to an organization that tracks HPCs. Last November, Samsung Electronics, Seoul National University, Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. partnered to develop a 180-node high-performance computing system that is among the 100 most powerful supercomputers in the world.
Another high-profile recent deployment was spearheaded by the Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), which developed and operates a 275-node, Linux–based supercomputing cluster built around Advanced Micro Devices Athlon processor. The system, called JIN, is the largest supercomputing system in Korea. JIN started out with 77 nodes but scaled up to 275 nodes with 17 servers, according to KIAS officials.
Demand for these high-performance computing clusters is largely driven by Koreas leading research centers, including the Korea Meteorological Administration, the Pohang University of Science and Technology, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, and the National Institute of Environmental Research.
On the supply side, Intel Korea, LG-IBM, HP Korea and Dell Korea are locked in fierce competition in the HPC market. The Korea Meteorological Administration, for instance, is planning to replace its Unix-based supercomputer system with a 64-bit clustering system, presenting an opportunity for Intel and AMD.
Next month, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology is slated to deploy a 512-node HPC system. Not to be outdone, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information has partnered with Intel and is expected to select Intel Korea for a 216-node HPC that, at a target speed of 2.4 teraflops, would be among the worlds 20 fastest supercomputers.
By the end of next year, industry analysts expect that more than 100 additional nodes of HPC systems based on IA-64 and more than 500 nodes of blade servers will be developed in Korea.
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