Panel: Hype & Reality: Experiences with the Leading Systems from the TOP500 List

Chair:

Prof. Dr. Thomas Schulthess, Director, Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS), Switzerland

During the last two decades the performance of supercomputers has increased six orders of magnitude, and in 2008 the most powerful computers sustained a petaflop/s in the Linpack benchmark as well as in several non-trivial application codes running under production conditions. Scientists of many domains that have traditionally not played in the supercomputing arena are now looking at the leading machines on the TOP500 list to see how these instruments will further scientific discovery in their respective domains. But supercomputers today require large investments in every respect – capital, energy, human expertise, etc. – and are competing for funding in the league of large science projects in many countries around the world. Does the current and anticipated impact on science justify such investments? In the present panel, representatives of six centers that operate some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world will discuss experiences with these systems in delivering new insights in science and engineering.