Cray to build an almost-Petaflop supercomputer for the University of Tennessee

Knoxville (TN) – The University of Tennessee (UT) has received a $65 million grant from the National Science Foundation Supercomputing for a next-generation computing system and will spend the money on a Cray system that is scheduled to go into operation next year.

Cray has confirmed delivery of XT4 supercomputer using quad-core AMD Opteron processors for this year and will upgrade the system to “near-petaflops compute capability” in 2009. Details about the system have not been announced, however, the university said that the hardware will cost about $30 million, while the cost to operate the computer over the next five years is estimated at about $35 million.

When deployed, the XT$ is expected to run simulations of supernova formation, galaxy evolution, and black hole mergers ; new models to help scientists understand extreme weather such as hurricanes and tornadoes as well as long-term climate change and the effects of pollution ; high-resolution simulations of the earth’s interior and enhance our understanding of the planet’s evolution and materials scientists will be better able to design materials with useful properties, UT said.

The supercomputer will be installed at the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Joint Institute for Computational Sciences.