Now in IEEE Xplore
Issue 57-1&2 "IBM Blue Gene/Q Systems" of the IBM Journal of Research and Development
In this double issue we describe the main thrust of the BG/Q supercomputer. The period from 2004 to 2012 witnessed a 36X increase in performance. The hardware and software focus continues to be on low power, high scalability, and high reliability. In addition, IBM made a conscious effort to move toward open source system software. Yet, compared to cluster-based COTS (commercial off the shelf) systems, Blue Gene offers superior interconnectivity, power efficiency and reliability. Compared to GPU based systems, Blue Gene offers ease of programming in addition to better power efficiency and reliability.