Computer from the beginnings
History The Legendary Chinese Abaco
History The first true “digital computer” was
designed by the English mathematician Charles Babbage –
“Difference Engine”
Today With the invention of the microchip computers became more
powerful and essential to the development of science and life in
general….
Actually exist computing power to solve major problems and
challenges of science…
Challenges
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) This project is expected to generate
more than 37 terabytes of data every day… (1 TB = 1024 GB) This
information must be stored, analyzed and processed by High
Performance Computing (HPC) systems…
High Performance Computing
High Performance Computing The high-performance computing is a
very important tool in developing computer simulations to complex
problems. Based on computer technologies such as clusters,
supercomputers, or using parallel computing.
HPC – Application Areas
Clustering Cluster computers, Division of Physical Chemistry
(CIGB) that stores and protects information from genes and
proteins. Cluster computers of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), government agency responsible for space
programs.
Most Powerful Supercomputer
HPC – Main Disadvantage The main issue on HCP is the cost. Build
or buy a supercomputer is very expensive. The K Computer cost
over $1.25 billion US dollars.
Distributed Systems and GRID Computing
Grid Computing Distributed computing paradigm in which all the
resources of any number of computers are subsumed to be treated
as a Single Virtual Supercomputer.
Objetives Distributed computing and GRID Computing is designed to
solve problems too big for any supercomputer or cluster.
Features Distributed systems must be scalable, transparent and
fault-tolerant.
Terms Scalability: refers to the variability of the size of a
distributed system. Transparency: refers to the invisibility of
the use of multiple processors and remote access. Fault
Tolerance: if a system component breaks another component must be
able to replace.
? Advantages 1. Provides a mechanism for transparent
collaboration between dispersed computer groups. 2. Enables the
operation of large-scale applications. 3. Provides access to
distributed resources from our computers. 4. All these objectives
and benefits are included in the idea of "e-Science"
Main advantage In a cluster all computers are in the same place,
connected by a LAN, those are dedicated computers and must have
the same hardware. In contrast, in the GRID computers can be
distributed around the world.
Major projects 1. Seti@home: radio signal processing to search
for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. 2. Folding@home:
simulating protein folding, primarily using molecular dynamics
technique. 3. FightAIDS@home: using biomedical simulation
techniques to look for ways to cure or prevent the spread of AIDS
and HIV. 4. The Grid: process and store the information generated
by the "Large Hadron Collider."
References http://lcg.web.cern.ch/LCG/
http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/~foster/Articles/WhatIsTheGrid.pdf
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246650.html
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246778.html?Open
http://www.top500.org/ Ian Foster, Carl Kesselman (1999).The
Grid: Blueprint for a New Computing Infrastructure. Morgan
Kaufmann Publishers. ISBN. Fran Berman, Anthony J.G. Hey,
Geoffrey Fox (2003).Grid Computing: Making The Global
Infrastructure a Reality. Wiley. ISBN.