In June, HPCwire highlighted the new MN-3 supercomputer: a 1.6 Linpack petaflops system delivering 21.1 gigaflops per watt of power, making it the most energy-efficient supercomputer in the world at least, according to the latest Green500 list, the Top500s energy-conscious cousin. The system was built by Preferred Networks, a Japanese AI startup that used its in-house MN-Core accelerator to help deliver the MN-3s record-breaking efficiency. Collaborating with Preferred Networks was modular system manufacturer Supermicro, which detailed the hardware and processes behind the chart-topping green giant in a recent report.
As Supermicro tells it, Preferred Networks was facing challenges on two fronts: first, the need for a much more powerful system to solve its clients deep learning problems; and second, the exorbitant operating costs of the system they were envisioning. With increasing power costs, a large system of the size PFN was going to need, the operating costs of both the power and associated cooling would exceed the budget that was allocated, Supermicro wrote. Therefore, the energy efficiency of the new solution would have to be designed into the system, and not become an afterthought.
Preferred Networks turned to partnerships to help resolve these problems. First, they worked with researchers at Kobe University to develop the MN-Core accelerator, specializing it for deep learning training processes and optimizing it for energy efficiency. After successfully benchmarking the MN-Core above one teraflop per watt in testing, the developers turned to the rest of the system and thats where Supermicro entered the picture.
On a visit to Japan, Clay Chen general manager of global business development at Supermicro sat down with Preferred Networks to hear what they needed.
At first I was asking them, you know, what type of GPU they are using, Chen said in an interview with HPCwire. They say, oh, no, were not using any type were going to develop our own GPU. And that was quite fascinating to me.
Preferred Networks selected Supermicro for the daunting task: fitting four MN-Core boards, two Intel Xeon Platinum CPUs, up to 6TB of DDR4 memory and Intel Optane persistent memory modules in a single box without sacrificing the energy efficiency of the system.
Supermicro based its design on one of its preexisting GPU server models that was designed to house multiple GPUs (or other accelerators) and high-speed interconnects. Working with Preferred Networks engineers, Supermicro ran simulations to determine the optimal chassis design and component arrangement to ensure that the MN-Core accelerators would be sufficiently cooled and efficiency could be retained.
Somewhat surprisingly, the custom server is entirely fan-cooled. Our concept is: if we can design something with fan cooling, why would we want to use liquid cooling? Chen said. Because essentially, all the heat being pulled out from the liquid is going to cool somewhere. When you take the heat outside the box, you still need to cool the liquid with a fan.
The end result, a customized Supermicro server just for Preferred Networks, is pictured below.
The servers four MN-Core boards are connected to PCIe x16 slots on a Supermicro motherboard and to the MN-Core Direct Connect board that enables high-speed communication between the MN-Core boards.
These custom servers each 7U high were then rack-mounted into what would become the MN-3 supercomputer: 48 servers, four interconnect nodes and five 100GbE switches. In total, the systems 2,080 CPU cores, delivering 1,621 Linpack teraflops of performance, required just 77 kW of power for the Top500 benchmarking run. This efficiency level is just 15 percent short of the 40-megawatt limit targeted by planned exascale systems like Aurora, Frontier and El Capitan.
We are very pleased to have partnered with Supermicro, who worked with us very closely to build MN-3, which was recognized as the worlds most energy-efficient supercomputer, said Yusuke Doi, VP of computing infrastructure at Preferred Networks. We can deliver outstanding performance while using a fraction of the power that was previously required for such a large supercomputer.
Go here to read the rest:
Supermicro Details Its Hardware for MN-3, the Most Efficient Supercomputer in the World - HPCwire
- New Microsoft Ads Take Aim at Mac Pricing - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Adobe Flash Comes to TV - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Microsoft Introduces Windows 7 Starter Edition - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Mac Viruses and Trojans Becoming More Prevalent - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Apple ‘Customer Experience’ Continues to Trounce PCs - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Seagate Introduces ‘Replica’ Drive to Backup Entire PC - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Still Love XP? Run it on Windows 7! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is Microsoft Ditching Vista? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Kindle DX: Not Exactly a Textbook Killer - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Smart Shopper’s Guide to Buying a Wireless Router - May 19th, 2010 [May 19th, 2010]
- iTunes 10: So Long, Ringtone Creator - Thanks for the Memories - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- iTunes 10: So Long, Ringtone Creator – Thanks for the Memories - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- How to Make Your Laptop Last Longer - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Client Build 5 UPDATE: Personal Super Computer 2011 (SR-2 X5690 OCZ Vertex 3 GTX590 Nvidia Tesla) - Video - March 29th, 2012 [March 29th, 2012]
- Super Micro Computer, Inc. Announces 3rd Quarter 2012 Financial Results - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Super Micro Computer Q3 Profit Slips - Quick Facts - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Super Computer Maker Cray and Intel strike Partnership - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Super Micro Computer Q3 12 Earnings Conference Call At 5:00 PM ET - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Herd mentallity and the information super highway - Video - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Brain vs. Computer - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Minecraft World First - Most wanted redstone device - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- PS3 Jailbreak Tutorial 4.11 WORKING - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- China's Tianhe-1 supercomputer begins operations - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- June 2011 TOP500 Review looks at Japan's K Supercomputer - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Super Vision for Soldiers - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- The Super Sonic Show Episode 0-Computer Help - Video - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- Why Super Micro Computer's Earnings May Be Less Than Awesome - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- Magnetic bacteria may help build computer hard drives - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- SUPER WHY! Around the World Adventure Kicks off PBS KIDS Summer Learning Initiative This June - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- Tutorial SUPER COMPUTER girl 3750 sylvia Vs fem game 4 (3550) - Video - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- SUPER COMPUTER Wii best 3750 sylvia Vs learn chess 4 (3550) - Video - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- SUPER COMPUTER girls city 3750 sylvia Vs RYBKA 4 (3550) - Video - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- John Laban - Open University Super Computer Room - Video - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- Can A Super Computer Save Banking? Part 2 of 2 - Video - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- Supermicro® Launches Widest Range of UP Server Platforms Supporting Intel® Xeon® E3-1200 v2 - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Supermicro® Debuts New X9 DP and 4-Way MP Platforms - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Supermicro® Launches Widest Range of Server Platforms Supporting Intel® Xeon® E3-1200 v2 - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Invention kit for banana pianos, alphabet soup keyboards - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- A few errors could be key to super-efficient computer chips - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- Supermicro® Highlights Latest GPU SuperServer®, SuperBlade® and ... - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- Kontron HPEC Platform Chosen by Military Embedded Systems Magazine for Editor's Choice Award - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- Raspberry Pi to rebirth an era of Woz-like super creativity? - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- Taste and tale of success - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- 1 Reason to Expect Big Things From Super Micro Computer - May 25th, 2012 [May 25th, 2012]
- Bump's Super Popular App Just Got A Million Times Cooler With Its Latest Update - May 25th, 2012 [May 25th, 2012]
- Is The Computer 'Cloud' Compromising You Privacy? - May 26th, 2012 [May 26th, 2012]
- Super MP3 Download 4.8.2.6 - May 28th, 2012 [May 28th, 2012]
- Radiohead's Kid A and OK Computer, Now in 8-Bit - May 29th, 2012 [May 29th, 2012]
- ASUS P6T7 WS Super Computer MoBo - Video - May 29th, 2012 [May 29th, 2012]
- Photonic Super Computer 2012 - Video - May 29th, 2012 [May 29th, 2012]
- Kaspersky discovers super-complex Flame malware - May 30th, 2012 [May 30th, 2012]
- Supermicro® X9 5x GPU SuperWorkstation Delivers Maximum Performance with NVIDIA Maximus Certification - May 30th, 2012 [May 30th, 2012]
- Super-virus Flame raises the cyberwar stakes - May 30th, 2012 [May 30th, 2012]
- Super-stealthy ‘Flame' computer virus spies on Iran - May 31st, 2012 [May 31st, 2012]
- Super-stealthy ‘Flame' computer virus spies on Iranians - May 31st, 2012 [May 31st, 2012]
- Was flame virus written by gamers? Code similar to apps such as Angry Birds - May 31st, 2012 [May 31st, 2012]
- Massive cyber attack on Iran came from U.S., report says - June 2nd, 2012 [June 2nd, 2012]
- Massive cyber attack on Iran came from US, report says - June 2nd, 2012 [June 2nd, 2012]
- Supermicro® Exhibits its Latest X9 Server and Storage Innovations at Computex, Taiwan - June 5th, 2012 [June 5th, 2012]
- Supermicro® Hadoop Solutions Accelerate Innovation with Launch of EMC® ... - June 5th, 2012 [June 5th, 2012]
- Super 57000 Video Game (Family Computer) - Video - June 5th, 2012 [June 5th, 2012]
- Security Cameras Turn into Super-Fast Sleuths - June 7th, 2012 [June 7th, 2012]
- Quantum computers move closer to reality, thanks to highly enriched and highly purified silicon - June 7th, 2012 [June 7th, 2012]
- Research Makes Ultrafast Quantum Computer Concept a Reality - June 9th, 2012 [June 9th, 2012]
- Supermicro's New Compact Embedded Server Appliance Supports 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7/i5/i3 Processors - June 11th, 2012 [June 11th, 2012]
- The PC which is truly personal: 'Computer' on a memory stick offers COMPLETE privacy for browsing and documents - June 11th, 2012 [June 11th, 2012]
- 'Purified' silicon nudges quantum computing ahead - June 11th, 2012 [June 11th, 2012]
- Apple serves up 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display - June 11th, 2012 [June 11th, 2012]
- Apple debuts next-gen MacBook Pro, iOS 6 - June 11th, 2012 [June 11th, 2012]
- How to Invest Like the Super-Rich - June 13th, 2012 [June 13th, 2012]
- Super Computer for Sale - Video - June 13th, 2012 [June 13th, 2012]
- Supermicro® Launches FatTwin™ Architecture - June 15th, 2012 [June 15th, 2012]
- Computer Workstation utilizes NVIDIA® Maximus(TM) technology. - June 15th, 2012 [June 15th, 2012]
- Supermicro® Launches FatTwinâ„¢ Architecture - June 15th, 2012 [June 15th, 2012]
- Acer: Aspire S5, super-thin Ultrabook, coming to U.S. in late June - June 15th, 2012 [June 15th, 2012]
- Supermicro(R) Launches FatTwin(TM) Architecture - June 15th, 2012 [June 15th, 2012]
- Sheldon Adelson: 7 surprising facts about 2012's biggest donor - June 15th, 2012 [June 15th, 2012]
- lego super computer - Video - June 17th, 2012 [June 17th, 2012]
- Age of Empires: The Conqurors - vsing Duke AI 1.6 - Super computer - Video - June 17th, 2012 [June 17th, 2012]
- Supermicro® FatTwin™ Takes Center Stage at International Supercomputing Conference 2012 - June 18th, 2012 [June 18th, 2012]