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JAXA Supercomputer from Fujitsu Begins Operations

- Achieves world's highest computing efficiency of 91.19% -

Fujitsu Limited

Tokyo, April 02, 2009

Fujitsu Limited announced that it has completed a new supercomputer system for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The new system began operations on April 1, 2009.

Measuring the performance of the new system by running the LINPACK(1) benchmarking tool shows performance of 110.6 teraflops(2) and computing efficiency(3) of 91.19%. These results would place the supercomputer at the top of the November 2008 world's TOP500 list of supercomputers in terms of computing efficiency. In terms of performance, it would rank first in Japan and 17th in the world.

Features of the new supercomputer system

New JAXA supercomputer system(photo courtesy of JAXA)

Larger View (698 KB)

The FX1 high-end technical computing server constitutes the core of the new system. This is a large-scale system, with 3,392 nodes, reaching a total theoretical peak performance of 135 teraflops and featuring 100 terabytes of memory and 11 petabytes of storage installed.

This is augmented by a number of subsystems, including vector calculation units and scalar symmetric multiprocessing units for numerical simulations that use vast amounts of memory. These allow the system to be used for a variety of purposes while offering an efficient, highly optimized computing environment.

Benchmark testing

LINPACK benchmark performance measurements on the 3,008-node FX1 primary system are as follows:

Key Factors Results Compared to November 2008 TOP500 list (latest)
Performance 110.6 teraflops 1st in Japan, 17th in world
Efficiency 91.19% 1st in world
Runtime 60 hours, 40 minutes 1st in world

How this performance was achieved

The benchmark test results can be attributed to a combination of factors: the high performance of the hardware in the FX1 technical computing server, the Parallelnavi middleware for high-performance computing (HPC) that can extract the maximum performance from that hardware, and the technical abilities involved in building the system.

The test was designed to challenge the system's maximum processing power up to the limit permitted by available memory. No runtime limit was imposed. The 3,008-node (3,008 CPUs, 12,032 cores) large cluster managed to complete the benchmark for over 60 hours under a severely high workload of more than 90%. Such results confirmed the system's high reliability.

Comment from Kozo Fujii, Director, Engineering Digital Innovation Center, JAXA

"We are excited to be using a new supercomputer with the world's best computing efficiency. In addition to pursuing aviation research, as we have done in the past, we look forward to using the new supercomputer system in the fields of rocket engine analysis and rocket plume acoustic analysis as well as for spacecraft concept design. Our goal is to make significant contributions in the practical application and development of numerical simulation technologies for space development, science, and exploration."

About the FX1 high-end technical computing server

The FX1 employs a new computing architecture to get the most from its multi-core CPU capability. With a chipset designed for high-memory bandwidth suited for Fujitsu's SPARC64™ Ⅶ high-performance quad-core CPU and the high-performance compiler, the system is able to reach an extraordinarily high level of computing efficiency that is difficult to achieve with conventional multi-core systems.

In addition, through high-functionality interconnects(4) that enable various types of calculation to be performed on data in the transmission pathway, a significant leap in the scalability of parallel applications is achieved. Moreover, the rich suite of development platform tools and operational functions delivered by Parallelnavi, the parallel-processing software that has a long track record in the field of technical computing, makes it easy to work in a high-performance parallel computing environment.

About Parallelnavi HPC middleware

In addition to a development environment that includes a compiler needed for science and technology computation and a math library, Parallelnavi is a suite of HPC middleware with an execution environment and file system that is compatible with all of Fujitsu's HPC systems. Because the math library dictates LINPACK's processing performance to a large extent, it played a large part in enabling the supercomputer system to achieve the world's highest computing efficiency measured in the latest test.


  • [1] LINPACK

    A program for measuring computer performance. The LINPACK benchmark is the standard used by the TOP500 project, which compares the performance of supercomputers.

  • [2] Teraflop

    One trillion floating point operations per second.

  • [3] Computing efficiency

    The ratio of actual execution performance against theoretical performance.

  • [4] High-functionality interconnect

    The inter-node network that makes use of a portion of the research results from the Petascale System Interconnect (PSI) Project sponsored by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 160,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.3 trillion yen (US$53 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com.

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All company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.

Date: 02 April, 2009
City: Tokyo
Company: Fujitsu Limited, , , , ,