Teaching note for product 9B03M041.

By using standard components, Compaq's supercomputer line, known as the Alpha Server SC, attempted to avoid some of the risk associated with supercomputer development. However, more than five years after unveiling its first supercomputer, known as Turbozilla, Compaq's High Performance Technical Computing Group had yet to make a profit, despite rapidly growing demand. The bidding process for large government contracts typically resulted in .....more

In this supplement to Compaq High Performance Computing (A), product 9B03M041, Compaq's High Performance Technical Computing Group attempts to shift its focus from one of gaining access to new markets to becoming a profit center through the manufacture and sale of standardized products. To accomplish this goal, the HPTC must learn to balance core development with manufacturing, sales, and service. Unlike large government accounts, volume customers .....more

Modine Manufacturing operates primarily in a single product category consisting of the manufacture and sale of heat transfer equipment. A major customer announced the cancellation of an agreement with Modine to develop a key engine component, which was needed by automotive companies in order to make their engines comply with new emissions guidelines set to take effect in several years. However, the expectation that the government would relax emissions .....more

Teaching note for product 9B02M040.

This note discusses the role of supercomputing in nuclear weapons research, from the first UNIVAC system installed in 1953 to the planned installation of a 100 TeraOPS system at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories in 2004. Topics include military and civilian uses for supercomputers, the evolution to parallel processing, the growing importance of open source software such as Linux, and emergent scientific uses, such as genetic sequencing and AIDS research. .....more