The Hindu : Intel initiative in grid computing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 15, 2003

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Intel initiative in grid computing

By Our Staff Correspondent

MUMBAI AUG. 14. The grid computing and high performance computing (HPC) movement in India is receiving a major nudge from leading chipmaker Intel Inc. These are perceived as the next big wave in distributed computing and Intel is partnering Indian companies to drive these technologies. While the HPC method pushes the limit of available computer power, grid computing harnesses computing power in a number of PCs and servers to achieve teraflops of computing power.

Indian companies such as Infosys, Satyam, TCS, Strand Genomics as well as leading defence and educational institutions such as BARC, IISc, IBAB, C-DAC and CSIR are part of the Intel programme to push grid computing and HPC activities. "India will see the second fastest growth in HPC after China. Most of the work is being conducted in areas such as education and defence. Moving ahead, the energy (oil and gas) and the manufacturing sector will see HPC-driven applications," according to Vijay Keshav, Industry Solutions Manager, Asia Pacific-HPC, Intel Asia Inc.

According to Mr. Keshav, HPC using the grid computing method would cost only one-fifth of a super computer that offers the same power. "One terraflop of computing power will cost about $100,000-$500,000 as compared to a supercomputer which may cost millions," he said. Over 1.5 million PCs in 200 countries are generating terraflops of computing power using HPC.

Closer home, Intel's development centre in Bangalore is working with several companies to enable them to develop applications powered by HPC. Over 1500 engineers are now involved in various HPC/grid computing projects.

Further to create greater awareness about the high performance computing concept, Intel plans to conduct workshops and training programmes for its channel programme partners and OEMs such as Wipro and HCL.

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