CFMS announces results from IBM POWER8 Product Evaluation

The Centre for Modelling & Simulation (CFMS) has released the results of its independent product evaluation of IBM’s Power System S824L, which was assessed for readiness and utilisation in technical computing and HPC workload.

The results from benchmarking and testing the S824L against the defined experimental plan were positive, interesting and insightful. The system meets performance levels for technical computing and is appealing in terms of its flexibility and simplicity. The commonality of tools and skills utilised within technical computing was evidenced by the ease of management of the unit. A report has been produced containing the full results of the S824L benchmarking and testing programme.

Product evaluation covered a number of industry standard tests such as system performance for technical computing and engineering workloads, quality of the toolchain (compilers, environment, etc.) and integrated energy efficiency and scale. As an independent organisation that bridges the gap between the supply chain and industrial users, CFMS has access to source code for commercial and open source applications, used to solve industrial scale problems.

“The industry appetite for computing power is ever upwards, but simply building larger and larger clusters is already becoming unsustainable due to rising energy prices. We need to take a step back and re-evaluate our approach if we want to approach a realistic solution for the future“, says Nathan Harper, Head of IT Systems, CFMS. “It will be interesting to see the impact of IBM Power systems, combined with technology from NVIDIA and Mellanox, as a catalyst for disruption, and as a basis for the development of new technologies in the future.”

Sam Paice, Chief Operating Officer, CFMS, commented, “ Testing the S824L demonstrates the potential, and is the start of an interesting journey which will be welcomed within industry.”

To download the full results of the IBM Power System S824L Benchmarking and Testing Report, click here. If you are a vendor, academic or industry user and are interested in submitting a product for testing or taking part in future product evaluations, click here.

About CFMS

The Centre for Modelling and Simulation (CFMS) is an independent, not-for-profit specialist in modelling and simulation. We support the UK delivery of new design methods and processes.

Through our development centre and state-of-the-art facility, we offer specialist skills, resource and access to best in class technologies to enable organisations to achieve significant advances in design processes.

At the heart of innovation, we bridge the gap between industry, academia and the research supply chain, facilitating collaboration, shaping the development agenda’s of industrial process users and capability suppliers.

As a trusted and neutral provider, our vision is to drive a revolution in engineering capability and design, working with organisations to reduce risk in the design phase, product development costs and time to market.

For more information visit www.cfms.org.uk or contact us on 0117 906 1100 or email info@cfms.org.uk