Intel: 3D Web to save HPC

Intel CTO Justin Rattner’s opening address at SC09 this morning was entertaining, although it left many people wondering what it really had to do with traditional HPC, and came off a little more “infomercial” than educational.  Comments like this didn’t help:

In tests that Intel has done in the labs, it has demonstrated that the computing requirements needed to simulate worlds takes on a log scale as users are added, their interactions increase, and the realism of the simulations increases. “It is an n2 relationship, and n2 problems always warm the cockles of my heart because n2 means revenue.”

The thrust of his talk was that HPC is stagnating as it stands right now, and the “3D Web” could be a way to reinvigorate the market, foster new hardware acquisitions, and make it more accessible to users worldwide.  The Register has a great writeup of it if you missed the stream.

via Intel: 3D Web to save HPC • The Register.

This story written by Randall Hand

Randall Hand is a visualization scientist working for a federal research lab, aiding researchers to discover the insights buried within their terabyte datasets generated on some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. He also runs VizWorld.com .