Distributed supercomputing via 100-Gbps fiber-optic networks demo planned for SC14

A team that comprises Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Computational Research Centre; InfiniBand range extension, routing, and encryption platform developer Obsidian Strategics; and Tata Communications says it will demonstrate an architecture for distributed supercomputing enabled via 100-Gbps submarine cable links at the upcoming Supercomputing 2014 (SC14) conference in New Orleans.

The use of Tata's 100-Gbps transpacific undersea cable network for the demonstration will represent a 10X improvement over similar demonstrations of links between Asia and North America, the partners say. The Singapore Advanced Research and Education Network (SingAREN) will provide originating connectivity within Singapore. Tata Communications’s TGN-IA undersea cable will transmit traffic from Singapore to Japan, where it will link to the carrier's TGN-P submarine network across the Pacific to Seattle. From there, CenturyLink will haul the traffic to New Orleans, and the show’s SCinet will terminate the circuit at the A*STAR booth.

The distributed supercomputing demonstration will leverage an A*STAR developed architecture called InfiniCortex. The architecture will provide coordination and scheduling algorithms to efficiently harness remote supercomputing equipment on single tasks. Obsidian Strategics will provide its Longbow devices to interface supercomputer InfiniBand LANs with encrypted links across standard WAN infrastructure. The company will also supply its Crossbow platforms to route traffic between InfiniBand subnets and BGFC, an enhanced subnet manager that coordinates the global InfiniBand fabric across multiple subnets.

"It is obvious that there is a definitive need in our industry to design and implement the mathematical tools and related software that will allow supercomputers located in different geo-locations to connect," explained Marek T. Michalewicz, senior director at the A*STAR Computational Resource Centre. "Through these high-capacity transmission connections, novel applications of long-distance InfiniBand and advances in the application of graph theory will help make the InfiniCortex a reality, regionally and globally."

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