InfiniBand Accelerates Top Three HPCs

Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. announced that for the first time, IB solutions accelerate the top three supercomputers on the TOP500 list, and four of the top five systems: the fastest HPC and AI supercomputer in the world deployed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the fastest supercomputer in China ranked second on the list, the second fastest supercomputer in the US deployed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ranked third, and the fastest HPC and AI supercomputer in Japan, ranked fifth.

Mellanox connects 43% of overall TOP500 platforms or 216 systems, including both IB and Ethernet, compared to 192 systems in November 17, representing 13% increase in six months.

IB accelerates nearly 60% of the total HPC systems on the list and is the most used high-speed interconnect for the top 100, 200, 300 and 400 systems. IB is the interconnect of choice for HPC and AI infrastructures.

The TOP500 List has evolved in the recent years to include more hyperscale, cloud, and enterprise platforms, in addition to the HPC and machine learning systems. Nearly half of the systems on the June 2018 list can be categorized as non-HPC application platforms, with a vast part of these systems representing US, Chinese and other hyperscale infrastructures, and are interconnected with Ethernet. Mellanox Ethernet solutions connect all of the 25Gb and faster Ethernet systems on the list, summed up to 76 platforms or 31% of the total Ethernet systems on the TOP500.

“Mellanox IB and Ethernet solutions now connect 216 systems on the TOP500 list, an increase of 13% in six months from November 17 to June 18. IB smart acceleration and In-Network Computing technology provide the highest performance and scalability for HPC and AI applications, and therefore IB is the interconnect of choice for the majority of these supercomputing platforms around the world. We are proud to accelerate the world’s fastest supercomputer in the US and in the world, the fastest supercomputers in China, Japan, Germany, Canada, Italy, and other countries. IB enables research, government and industry organizations to find new discoveries and better data insights never possible before, and to develop new generations of products by maximizing data center performance and overall ROI,” said Eyal Waldman, president and CEO, Mellanox. “Because of their leading technology advantages, our Ethernet solutions connect all of the 25Gb and faster Ethernet based systems on the TOP500 list, demonstrating the growing adoption of our Ethernet NICs, switches and cables for hyperscale, cloud and enterprise infrastructures. Our HDR 200Gb/s IB and Ethernet solutions will further increase our technology advantage and will enable the next generation of the world’s leading supercomputers.“

Published twice a year and available here, the TOP500 list ranks the world’s most powerful computer systems according to the Linpack benchmark rating system.

Key takeaways from the June 2018 list include:

Mellanox connects 43% of overall TOP500 systems or 216 systems (IB and Ethernet), compared to 192 systems in November 17, 13% increase
IB accelerates the fastest HPC and AI supercomputer in the world – Oak Ridge National Laboratory ‘Summit’ system
IB accelerates 4 of the top 5 supercomputers in the world – #1 (USA), #2 (China), #3 (USA), #5 (Japan); and overall 140 systems on the list
IB connects nearly 60% of overall HPC systems on the TOP500 list
IB is the most used high-speed interconnect for the top 100, 200, 300 and 400 systems
Mellanox connects 76 Ethernet systems (all 25Gb and faster), or 31% of total Ethernet systems
The TOP500 list has evolved to include both HPC and cloud / hyperscale (non-HPC) platforms
Nearly half of the platforms on the TOP500 list can be categorized as non-HPC application platforms (mostly Ethernet-based)
IB is the interconnect of choice for HPC and AI infrastructures
Mellanox Ethernet is the interconnect of choice for cloud and hyperscale platforms

Detailed TOP500 presentation