UL's LITE Technology Center

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. -- With a single computer acquisition from SGI (OTC: SGID) , the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) has instantly become one of the world's leading technology resources for industry, government, and research institutions. LITE recently installed a massive computing component to its already world-leading SGI-powered visualization capabilities with the purchase of a 160-processor SGI(R) Altix(R) 4700 supercomputer with 4.1 trillion bytes (or terabytes) of memory. While some other supercomputers have more processors, the LITE system is unusual because of the amount of memory that it makes available to solve the sophisticated problems faced by environmental scientists, pharmaceutical researchers, automakers, energy companies, and intelligence agencies. More memory means even large problems can be solved faster, because the system doesn't have to split up large models or data sets to compute them piece by piece. In fact, the new LITE system is one of the world's largest shared-memory computers available to the private sector, commercial users and research institutions. To match the memory of the new LITE system would require researchers to link 4,198 desktop systems, each equipped with 1 Gigabyte of memory. But unlike a series of daisy-chained smaller computers, the LITE system operates as an enormous, single computing resource that can easily apply its entire 4.1 terabytes of RAM as a single shared memory. The system can apply its memory to one massive problem or several major problems at once. The new LITE system is capable of tackling even the largest computing problems, such as seismic analysis models used for energy exploration, real- time impact simulations vital to safe automobile design, and analysis of geospatial satellite imagery used for weather-related disaster preparedness and national security. "With this latest acquisition, LITE is uniquely positioned to help our varied user communities benefit from the integration of visualization and supercomputing," said Dr. Carolina Cruz, executive director and chief scientist at LITE and world-renowned pioneer of visualization technologies. "When working with large-scale, real-word data sets, users often have to subject their data to sophisticated compute algorithms before their project is ready to visualize. With our new system, users can compute and visualize the results of those computations as they are taking place. This new SGI Altix 4700 system is an ideal engine to LITE's vast SGI visualization resources, and it should serve as a prized resource for users throughout Louisiana and the United States." The rest of the story

[Turbine]

The link below is static (June 2006) so the page predates the launch of UL's LITE computer. However it is informative in that it shows the worlds fastest computers. LINK

[ulforlife]

The link below is static (June 2006) so the page predates the launch of UL's LITE computer. However it is informative in that it shows the worlds fastest computers. LINK

Where do you believe UL will rank on this list? I noticed there were many different types of supercomputers, so I don't see how the ranking is done but I'm guessing that because LITE is 100% digital it would put us ahead of many. Am I wrong/right?

[cypremort]

Where do you believe UL will rank on this list? I noticed there were many different types of supercomputers, so I don't see how the ranking is done but I'm guessing that because LITE is 100% digital it would put us ahead of many. Am I wrong/right?

I don't think the LITE system will make that list. If it does, it won't stay there long. The list is very dynamic. The advantage (and uniqueness) of the LITE system is not the speed nor the number of CPUs but the large amount of direct addressable (shared) memory. This is key for very large apps as well as for graphic intensive operations where main memory is used as an interim location for the rendered images before being moved to the graphics framebuffers. Having the fastest computer doesn't mean anything...it is what you do with it that counts. By the way, LSU's SuperMike cluster is significantly "faster" when it comes terraflop ratings than the computer at LITE but they are aimed at solving different problems. LSU also has an SGI machine very similar to what was installed at LITE. Not sure if it is larger or not. Reality is that LITE has a very specialized system with a narrow focus and thus makes it hard to compare to other supercomputers out there.

[cypremort]

Where do you believe UL will rank on this list? I noticed there were many different types of supercomputers, so I don't see how the ranking is done but I'm guessing that because LITE is 100% digital it would put us ahead of many. Am I wrong/right?

By the way, the "100% digital" you reference does not apply to the computer system but to the graphics projection system that displays on the screens (walls) of the cube. That is very unique and UL is one of the first in the world to build an all digital projection cube.

[NewsCopy]

TROY, Mich. -- Altair Engineering, Inc., a leading global provider of technology and services that strengthen client innovation and decision-making, today announced that its PBS Professional software is the workload management solution driving the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) system, one of the world's largest shared-memory supercomputers available to private sector and commercial users. In managing the HPC capabilities of the 4.1 terabyte (TB) system from SGI (OTC: SGID) , PBS Professional facilitates the ability to apply the entire system to one complex problem or multiple projects at the same time. "This is an extremely compute-intense environment," said Carolina Cruz, Ph.D., LITE executive director and chief scientist, and world-pioneer in virtual reality. "Without a powerful shared-memory system such as this, the number-crunching phase that precedes product visualization and testing can take months or even years. This is a tremendous draw to businesses who understand that the ability to perform more cycles in less time is a real advantage in bringing more robust products to market faster. The combination of Altair's PBS Professional workload management technology with the SGI system brings us that much closer to our goal of providing a complete solution to those customers. LITE is one of Louisiana's most treasured assets and will be an extremely valuable resource for innovators across the country." Located on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, LITE is the result of a partnership of the university, the Lafayette Economic Development Authority (LEDA) and the State of Louisiana to attract new technology and business development to the state. LITE offers a level of HPC resources that has traditionally been available only to groups such as government agencies, pharmaceutical giants and aerospace companies. Thanks to the partnership that made LITE possible, commercial users can perform basic research, application development, testing and validation, product development and commercial production, as well as deliver visualization technologies and HPC modeling. The system is capable of handling the most complex problems, such as seismic analysis models used for energy exploration, real-time impact simulations for the development of safe automobiles, and the analysis of geospatial satellite imagery used for weather-related disaster preparedness and national security. The rest of the story

[ulforlife]

By the way, the "100% digital" you reference does not apply to the computer system but to the graphics projection system that displays on the screens (walls) of the cube. That is very unique and UL is one of the first in the world to build an all digital projection cube.

Cleared up now...thanks!

[NewsCopy]

LAFAYETTE — The opening Wednesday of the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise — which could give researchers and businesses unprecedented ability to innovate — is a turning point in the history of economic development of Louisiana, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. Louisiana’s post-hurricane recovery must also focus on long-term economic development initiatives such as LITE, Blanco said. “We owe it to ourselves not to let our darkest hours shut down our brightest opportunities,” she said. LITE is a $27 million facility, operated by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Lafayette Economic Development Authority. Already the facility has nine contracts for business and researchers interested in tapping into the special immersive visualization environments, powered by one of the country’s largest supercomputers. In a nutshell, the facility allows researchers to literally look around and inside vast amounts of data crunched by the supercomputers. While four states have similar visualization technology or computing capacity, Louisiana is the only state that has both features in one place, putting it on par with facilities in Japan and Germany, Blanco said. The rest of the story By KEVIN BLANCHARD Acadiana bureau

[Doug]

From ground breaking till now cost went up seven million $

[cypremort]

From ground breaking till now cost went up seven million $

Additional monies were allocated to this project. The large shared-memory machine was not in the initial allocation. Building costs, however, were higher than expected.

[Turbine]

A picture from the Hilton

[RaginFan2]

A picture from the Hilton

I drove past it tonight after the game and saw it lit up with changing colors. It looked pretty cool! It sorta looked like a giant Easter egg.