The German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ) provides computing resources and data management for climate research. It needed more powerful systems to handle increasing data demands. DKRZ purchased an IBM POWER6 cluster with QLogic InfiniBand switches. This exceeded performance expectations, ranking 27th on the Top500 list. The switches also simplified storage integration and management.

1. Case study
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German Climate
Computing Center
CustomerProfile
QLogic InfiniBand Switches TheGermanClimateComputingCentre(DKRZ)provideshigh-performance
Exceed Performance Expectations computingplatformsandsophisticated,high-capacitydatamanagementto
German research groups working on climate and earth system research.
LocatedintheheartoftheKlimaCampusinHamburg,Germany,thenon-
profit organization serves more than 1,000 researchers nationally and
Problem
internationally.
The German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ)
needed to stay at the forefront of climate research, Compared to other computer centers, DKRZ is unique in fully integrating
but its system was beginning to show its age. The computer and data services to manage the petabytes of data typically
organization began searching for a new system produced by global climate models—research that takes several months
and a new interconnect that could deliver superior torunandrequireshigh-performancecomputersandsomeoftheworld’s
performance. largestclustersystems.
ProblemStatement
Solution
DKRZ had been using NEC® SX-6 Vector Machines and the interconnect
DKRZ purchased an IBM® POWER6® cluster with an
that was proprietary to the supercomputer.  However, the system began
integrated interconnect comprising QLogic® 9240
to show its age, and DKRZ decided that it needed more performance to
switchestomeettherequiredperformancelevelsin
continueservingtheincreasingneedsofitsresearchers.Infact,datacenter
theorganization’sdemandingproductionenvironment.
performanceiscentraltotheorganization’sservices.
“Ultimatelyourexistenceistoassuretheavailabilityandtheperformance
Results
ofallofourdatacentercomponents,”saidMr.Garternicht.“Ourgoalisto
The system recorded a peak performance deliveraccurateclimatepredictionsasquicklyaspossible.”
measurement of 115.9 teraflops on the Top 500
comparison test, which ranked the system the 27th One other issue with the system was the difficulty in connecting to the
fastestsupercomputerintheworld.Inaddition,DKRZ organization’sstoragedata.
fully integrated its storage management system into
thenewinterconnect. “Theproblemwasthat,duetotheproprietarynatureoftheinterconnect,
“TheQLogicswitchesatDKRZmeetandexceedourdemandingperformance
expectations.Likeallthebestsolutions,wefindthemincrediblyreliable,almost
transparent,andselfrunning.”
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—UlfGarternicht,DKRZ


2. Case study
German Climate Computing Center QLogic InfiniBand Switches Exceed Performance Expectations
thesesystemsdidnotallowtheintegrationofstoragemanagement management and monitoring, reducing error rates.  The switches
systemsdirectlyintotheinterconnect,”saidUlfGarternicht,headof simplifiedtheidentificationanddiagnosisofcomplexproblemsby
theSystemsDepartmentatDKRZ. providingongoingmonitoring.
QLogicSolution TheBottomLine
To resolve the system performance issue, DKRZ purchased the TheIBMPOWER6clusterandtheQLogic9240InfiniBandswitches
IBM® POWER6® cluster for use with an InfiniBand interconnect.  delivered the performance benefits DKRZ needed.  “The QLogic
The organization purchased QLogic InfiniBand switches for the switches at DKRZ meet and exceed our demanding performance
interconnect because of their proven, seamless integration; expectations.  Like all the best solutions, we find them incredibly
certification; and connectivity with IBM POWER6. Another reason reliable, almost transparent, and self running,” concluded Mr.
DKRZ selected QLogic switches was for their ability to overcome Garternicht.
systembottlenecks.TheorganizationpurchasedeightQLogic9240
InfiniBandswitches,whichwereinstalledinaparalleltopology(all
QLogicInfiniBandAdaptersandSwitches
nodeswereconnectedtoeachoftheeightswitches).Accordingto
DKRZ,theQLogicInfiniBandswitchesrepresentthebestinterconnect TheQLogic9000Seriesof20Gb/sDDRdirectorsandedgeswitches
solutionavailableonthemarket. are the most highly integrated cluster computing interconnect
solutionavailable.AnidealsolutionforHighPerformanceComputing
(HPC),databaseclustering,andgridutilitycomputingapplications,
BusinessBenefitsoftheQLogicSolution the9000FabricDirectorsaredesignedtomaximizeclusterandgrid
By using the IBM POWER6 cluster in combination with the computinginterconnectperformancewhilesimplifyingandreducing
QLogic InfiniBand switches, DKRZ achieved several performance thecostofoperatingadatacenter.
improvementsinitsdatacenter.First,theoverallspeedinthedata
centerwasenhanced.Afterseveralmonthsofperformancetesting,  The QLogic 12000 Series represents a new class of InfiniBand
DKRZ’ssystemwasrankedasthe27thfastestsupercomputerinthe switching for HPC.  Based on the QLogic TrueScale™ ASIC
world during the June 2009TOP500 comparison test, which uses platform, these advanced 40Gb/s QDR InfiniBand switches offer
the LINPACK benchmark.  DKRZ’s total system peak performance thehighestportcount,thehighestportdensity,themostflexibility,
measured115.9teraflops—theorganization’sbestresultonthetest with the lowest power requirements per port than any other rack
todate. mountablesolutionavailableonthemarket.The12000Serieswith
the QLogic InfiniBand Fabric Suite also represents a new class of
Second,theorganizationcouldfullyintegrateitshighperformance easier to use but more powerful InfiniBand fabric management.
storage system (HPSS), which manages the DKRZ’s data archive, QLogicInfiniBandFabricSuitesimplifiesInfiniBandnetworkingwith
into the interconnect, providing unprecedented data transfer rates automated installation, configuration, and monitoring of the fabric.
toandfromthearchive. InfiniBandFabricSuitemakesInfiniBandfabricmanagementmore
powerfulwithadvancedQoS,adaptiveroutingandvFabric™,virtual
Third, the QLogic InfiniBand switches helped to improve system InfiniBandfabricsthatimprovetheutilizationofInfiniBandresources.
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© 2010 QLogic Corporation. specifications are subject to change without notice. all rights reserved worldwide. QLogic and the QLogic logo are registered trademarks of QLogic Corporation. truescale and vFabric are trademarks of QLogic Corporation. InfiniBand
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