Linux supercomputers used for DOD war simulations

LinuxWorld - More details have been released regarding the U.S. Department of Defense's choice of Linux-based supercomputers to power complicated battle scenarios.

The Pentagon is using two 256-processor Linux Networx Inc. Evolocity cluster supercomputers to conduct disaster simulations. One computer has been installed at a DOD High Performance Computing Center in Dayton, Ohio, the other in Hawaii at the U.S. Air Force's Maui High Performance Computing Center (MHPCC). The purchase is part of a technology initiative known as the Technology Insertion 2004 program, which is designed to provide the DOD with the most current technology to conduct various simulations. The new Linux machines replaced 3-year-old, 512-processor clusters that weren't powerful enough to conduct the simulations now being done by the military.

The clusters can simulate moving 3,000 U.S. troops among 1 million civilian vehicles. David Morton, technical director at the MHPCC, said the computers will one day be used for more immediate purposes. "This is still bleeding-edge, but it will eventually be used for training," Morton said. "It's still in the lab, but these same capabilities will move out to support actual war [battles]."

"Our selection methods are rigorous to ensure the technology we adopt is reliable, robust and mature enough to support our demanding environments," said Maj. Kevin Benedict, program manager at MHPCC. "The Linux cluster from Linux Networx has proven to be a high-productivity system and is helping the HPCMP [High Performance Computer Modernization Program] achieve our computing objectives."

The clusters are part of a larger contract that Bluffdale, Utah-based Linux Networx won with the DOD earlier this year to deliver a total of six cluster computer systems to HPCMP centers, including a 2,132-processor system Linux Networx is now building for the Army Research Laboratory.