Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Networking
    • Storage

    Amazon Elastic Cloud Computer Cuts Cost of Supercomputer Access

    By
    Frank J. Ohlhorst
    -
    December 30, 2011
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Getting compute time on a supercomputer has long been a privilege limited to physicists, scientists, medical researchers and other academic types.
      Researchers had to apply for time by submitting project proposals in hopes they would be deemed worthy of approval and priority access to a supercomputer. In fact, getting time on a supercomputer used to be as competitive as getting time on the world’s most powerful telescopes. There were long waiting lists. But that’s not necessarily the case any longer.
      According to reports, Amazon has built a virtual supercomputer that runs on Amazon Web Services Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and is looking to change the supercomputer access paradigm. Amazon has named its virtual supercomputer the Elastic Cloud Computer and it is ranked as the 42nd fastest supercomputer in the world. Amazon’s Elastic Cloud Computer delivers some 240 trillion calculations per second, or 240 teraflops on 17,000 cores.
      While that is a rather impressive feat, it does fall far short of the current supercomputing champion, Fujitsu’s K Computer, which maxed out at 10 petaflops (10 quadrillion calculations a second) in November 2011. Nevertheless, the Elastic Cloud Computer proves to be a comparative bargain, almost anyone can use the system for $1,279 per hour, or $11 million a year if run full time.
      Fujitsu’s K Computer costs Fujitsu around $10 million per year just for the power bill. Fujitsu’s published specs also states that the K Computer cost around $20 million to build and consists of 864 racks with 88,128 interconnected CPUs. Each processor in the K Computer is linked to 16 GBytes of RAM, bringing the memory total 1,377 terabytes, which requires 9.89 megawatts of power, about the same as 10,000 suburban homes.
      By democratizing access to supercomputing, Amazon may very well change the business intelligence and big data markets for many businesses, which will now be able to run advanced algorithms on large amounts of data to identify trends and build plans of action based upon big data analytics.
      Prior to the Elastic Cloud Computer, businesses either had to build their own super compute clusters at a cost of tens of millions, or rent physical access on an existing supercomputer, if available and a price dozens of times Amazon’s hourly rate.

      Frank J. Ohlhorst
      Frank Ohlhorst is an award-winning technology journalist and IT industry analyst, with extensive experience as a business consultant, editor, author, and blogger. Frank works with both technology startups and established technology ventures, helping them to build channel programs, launch products, validate product quality, create marketing materials, author case studies, eBooks and white papers.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×