![]() ![]() ![]() The discussion jumped from theoretical to practical in 2008 after the Roadrunner supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory achieved petascale speed with a run clocked at 1 petaflop, or 1 quadrillion calculations per second. Scientists initially questioned whether exascale computing could be done at all. “Because Frontier is so much faster, we can perform simulations in minutes, hours or days that would take years or even decades to complete on other machines - which means they wouldn’t be done.” “It’s like the difference between ‘Donkey Kong’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto,’” Atchley said. Simulating climate or weather? Frontier allows global modeling at a size, scale and level of accuracy over a longer time frame than ever before. Simulating quantum mechanics? A machine like Frontier allows for more particles. Simulating the universe? Exascale allows for not just more planets and stars but whole galaxies. “A machine of Frontier’s power can let you tackle exponentially larger problems because it can do the math faster than any other machine.” “The bigger the idea, the bigger the simulation,” Atchley said. Scientists from around the world compete for time on Frontier through DOE’s Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment, or INCITE, program. The process helps researchers target their experiments and fine-tune designs while saving the time and expense of real-world testing. The faster the computer, the more possibilities and probabilities can be plugged into the simulation to be tested against what’s already known - how a nuclear reactor might respond to a power failure, how cancer cells might respond to new treatments, how a 3D-printed design might hold up under strain. As he watched, the supercomputer shot past its day-old record and broke through the exascale barrier, a feat deemed far-fetched and impractical by some of the world’s leading scientists as recently as five years before.Įxascale computing’s promise rests on the ability to synthesize massive amounts of data into detailed simulations so complex that previous generations of computers couldn’t handle the calculations. ![]() Atchley sat down, glanced at the screen and snapped to attention.įrontier had reached the end of its run. Now he was ready to log the latest failure and puzzle again over what might still stand in the way. Atchley watched all night, sneaking naps between disappointments. They wanted to break the “exascale barrier” - the scientific milestone that would herald the next generation of supercomputing, with machines that could run a quintillion calculations per second.Įach test run brought the goal a little closer, only for Frontier to stall and crash. The team didn’t want to just set a record. The machine, built in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and an international supply-chain crisis, had already set a new worldwide record for computing speed, but that wasn’t enough. Atchley and fellow scientists had spent months tuning and tweaking Frontier, the $600 million supercomputer installed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Just before dawn, Scott Atchley woke up for the third time, took another sip of coffee and sat down at his computer to watch the next failure. ![]()
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