Eco Factor: Supercomputer consumes less energy for cooling.
Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory is saving many taxpayer dollars while reducing the laboratory’s environmental footprint. The Blue Gene/P high-performance computer installed at the laboratory is just an antithesis of its family members that often require several megawatts of electricity. This supercomputer is second-most energy-efficient among the 20 supercomputers in the world.
Blue Gene/P needs only 1 MW of power to run at a speed of approximately 557 teraflops, which is equivalent to complete more than 557 trillion calculations per second. Six air handlers that move 300,000 cubic feet of air per minute under the facility floor make it cool and safe by keeping the room at low temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
Argonne is the leading edge in basic and applied scientific research in virtually every discipline with an entire green facility.
The Dark Side:: One more solution that can save more watts of energy is to look for technology that produces less heat to reduce the consumption extra energy required for cooling.
Via: HPCWire
