- Kan Balam
Kan Balam (also known as KanBalam) is a
computer cluster located inMexico City , on the main campus of theUNAM . With a capacity of 7.113teraflops , 3016GB ofRAM and 160TB of storage, it is the number one inLatin America . It started working sinceJanuary 16 2007 .Among the objectives of this super computer is to allow Mexican researchers to work with highly modern infrastructure without the necessity of leaving the country, thus helping to stop the
brain drain that the country has had in the last years. The principal subjects aided by this computer areastrophysics ,particle physics ,quantum physics ,geology and is mainly devoted towardsseismic engineering. It will also be used to do weather measurements and it will ne available for public and private companies.Characteristics
Processing
The computer has 1368
AMD Opteron 2.6 GHzprocessors and 3016GB RAM, distributed in 337 calculation nodes, each with 8GB RAM and two DUOprocessors and in 5 specialized nodes with 64GB RAM each.torage
KanBalam has a storage system of 768
hard disk s, with 200GB each.Interconnection
The processing nodes communicate with the storage system in a high speed
network . It connects 576ports with 2switches infiniband, reaching speed of the order of 10 Gbyte/sControl
The computer has 4
HP service nodes.OS
Kan Balam uses Redhat Enterprise
Linux . [ [http://mx.groups.yahoo.com/group/GNU-Linux/message/2112 Yahoo! Grupos ] ]Issues
At the very beginning the computer was unable to run at optimal speed or make use of the full power of the processors, a problem which
DGSCA was already well aware of (it was inaugurated before it's final installation was completed). Technically a whole 1/3 of the nodes were unable to run due to temperature issues in the work room (when running all nodes at 100% their capacity). In recent dates, the computer's performance has been stabilized (with the addition of 2 more cooling units) and is near optimal condition.
This prompted an alarmist reaction among the first users which provoked a local periodical to falsely publish and fabricate a suppossed "meltdown" of the nodes in early June of 2007. [http://www.contralinea.com.mx/archivo/2007/junio/htm/Quema_supercomputadora_UNAM_kamBalam.html]References
External links
* [http://www.dgcs.unam.mx/gacetaweb/2007/070118/gaceta.pdf Gaceta UNAM N°3953. La UNAM, líder del supercómputo en AL]
* [http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2007/01/18/permitira-supercomputadora-analizar-temblores-silenciosos La Jornada - Permitirá supercomputadora analizar temblores silenciosos]
* [http://www.argenpress.info/nota.asp?num=038853 Argenpress - La UNAM tiene computadora más potente de América Latina]
* [http://www.prensalatina.com.mx/article.asp?ID=%7BFEC0C9E6-9AAB-4349-8E15-D8F813B56E9C%7D&language=ES Prensalatina.com - Nueva supercomputadora estudiará fenómenos sismológicos en México]
* [http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/mexico/596562.html Esmas.com - Inaugura UNAM nueva supercomputadora]
* [http://www.contralinea.com.mx/archivo/2007/junio/htm/Quema_supercomputadora_UNAM_kamBalam.html super computer burns]
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