University of Toronto's Supercomputer Goes Online Thursday

June 18, 2009 11:04 a.m. EST

Toronto, Ontario (AHN) - The University of Toronto makes national history on Thursday as its $50 million supercomputer system goes online. It will be the fastest computing machine in Canada.

Among its capabilities are it could perform over 300 trillion calculations per second, simulate the Earth's climate up to a century in the future in four days and assist researchers make an in depth probe into cosmic background radiation.

According to Chris Pratt, strategic initiatives executive of IBM Canada, quoted by Globe and Mail, "This positions us on a world research stage at a whole new level... This isn't one step or two steps; this is like, 'Wow.'"

To power the IBM System x iDataPlex server, it will use energy enough to light 4,000 homes. Compared to the next fastest research computer in the country, it is 30 times more powerful, making it among the 15 fastest computers in the world and the fastest outside the U.S.

To cut cooling costs, IBM designers made it in such a way that a drop in outdoor temperature occurs below a pre-set point, the computer will use outdoor winter air to cool the system.

It is made up of 30,000 individual central processing units. Among its planned use will be to examine particle collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, which seeks to recreate the condition before the Big Bang.

Richard Peltier, scientific director of the project, said ultra powerful computers is the norm today in various scientific disciplines including genetic, chemical physics and aerodynamics.

Peltier said in a statement, "Most fields are now deeply involved in high-performance computation... Your really can't do modern research without it."