The Cray X2 is a
vector processing
In computing, a vector processor or array processor is a central processing unit (CPU) that implements an instruction set where its instructions are designed to operate efficiently and effectively on large one-dimensional arrays of data called ...
node for the
Cray XT5h
The Cray XT5 is an updated version of the Cray XT4 supercomputer, launched on November 6, 2007. It includes a faster version of the XT4's SeaStar2 interconnect router called SeaStar2+, and can be configured either with XT4 compute blades, which ...
supercomputer, developed and sold by
Cray Inc.
Cray Inc., a subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, is an American supercomputer manufacturer headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It also manufactures systems for data storage and analytics. Several Cray supercomputer systems are listed ...
and launched in 2007.
The X2, developed under the code name ''Black Widow'', was originally expected to be a standalone supercomputer system, superseding the
Cray X1
The Cray X1 is a non-uniform memory access, vector processor supercomputer manufactured and sold by Cray Inc. since 2003. The X1 is often described as the unification of the Cray T90, Cray SV1, and Cray T3E architectures into a single machine. T ...
parallel vector supercomputer. However, the X2 was eventually launched as one of the four processor "
blade
A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historica ...
" options for the XT5h system.
An X2 blade comprises two nodes, each with four
symmetric multiprocessing
Symmetric multiprocessing or shared-memory multiprocessing (SMP) involves a multiprocessor computer hardware and software architecture where two or more identical processors are connected to a single, shared main memory, have full access to all ...
vector processors and 32 or 64 GB of shared memory. Each node has a peak performance of more than 100
gigaflops
In computing, floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate meas ...
. X2 processors are connected using a radix-64 "
fat-tree" interconnect implemented by the ''YARC'' router
ASIC
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC ) is an integrated circuit (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-effici ...
. X2 blades also link into the XT5h system via its ''SeaStar2+'' processor interconnect.
Up to 256 X2 blades can be installed in an XT5h system. The X2 processor nodes integrate with the Cray XT5h's
UNICOS
UNICOS is a range of Unix and after it Linux operating system (OS) variants developed by Cray for its supercomputers. UNICOS is the successor of the Cray Operating System (COS). It provides network clustering and source code compatibility la ...
/lc OS, user environment, and storage subsystem, as part of the ''Rainier'' project.
External links
Cray XT5h SupercomputerCray Introduces Next-Generation SupercomputersThinking Ahead: Future Architectures from CrayThe BlackWidow High-Radix Clos NetworkCray X2 Vector Processing Blade
X2
Vector supercomputers
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