cmt@uunet.UU.NET (Chris Thomson) (05/12/89)
Myrias has shipped its first system, a 64-processor model. Following is the (unedited) press release: Myrias Research Coproration has shipped the first SPS-2 (Scalable Parallel Supercomputer) to the Alberta Research Council (ARC). The ARC will utilize new parallel processing techniques for simulating research applications for the oil industry. According to ARC Director of Computing, Walt Neilson, "The Myrias SPS-2 system was chosen for this venture because it is easy to progam, enabling non-programmer, research scientists to easily take advantage of its speed. "The SPS-2 installation went very smoothly and was running test programs within three hours of delivery." Peter Gregory, Myrias President, said, "The Alberta Research Council Oil Sands and Hydrocarbon Recovery Department has the scientific expertise needed in process simulation for reservoir modeling, fluid dynamics and geochemistry, and have done their previous development work on DEC VAX equipment. "The Myrias SPS-2 will not only scale to over 1000 processors; it features an internal architecture that enables programs to be ported to future, faster processor platforms without change." Myrias and ARC engineers and scientists will spend the next 18 months on projects devoted to specific applications in these areas, as well as seismic analysis, geophysics and weather forecasting. "Myrias' SPS-2 parallel architecture is the ideal tool for this application, because the geochemistry application is processed -- in parallel -- while the reservoir calculation is also being accomplished. The power inherent in the SPS-2 and 'pardo' software management system in effect permits two majore operations to take place at the same time," concluded Mr. Gregory. Project headquarters, and the 64-processor Myrias SPS-2, are housed in the Oil Sands and Hydrocarbon Recovery Department at the ARC in Edmonton, Alberta. Myrias Research Corporation is responsible for research and development and manufacturing of the SPS-2 providing Unix, parallel Fortran and C, and unique parallel system management software. SPS-2 configurations start from under $500,000. A wholly-owned subsidiary, Myrias Computer Corporation of Boston, Massachusetts, provides worldwide marketing, sales and customer service. Corporation, -- Chris Thomson, Myrias Research Corporation uunet!ncc!myrias!cmt 900 10611 98 Ave, Edmonton Alberta, Canada 403-428-1616
eugene@eos.arc.nasa.gov (Eugene Miya) (05/13/89)
>"The Myrias SPS-2 will not only scale to over 1000 processors;
Claims of scaling to many processors abound in this field.
We have heard from some sources that the RP3 project at IBM
has been cancelled or scaled back, for instance. Scale is a
problem and much of it isn't linear.
An interesting piece of advice came to me from Steve Lundstrom
(I hope its okay I mention this, Steve). He suggested that anyone
who proposed building such a scaleable architecture attempt to build
the largest possible system first. You will learn a lot along the way.
Then, break the machine down and sell the parts (submachines).
I know this is possible with Butterflys and Hypercubes, but it is
really the learning along the way. I consider this a good piece of
wisdom from Steve.
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Another gross generalization from
--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@aurora.arc.nasa.gov
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