Ed Frauenheim writes about a supercomputer that may become the largest and fastest (for now) to be based on the GNU/Linux

OS

``NASA has picked computer maker Silicon Graphics Inc. and chipmaker Intel to develop a major supercomputer based on Linux to simulate space exploration and conduct other research, SGI announced Tuesday.

``The computer company said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration plans to integrate twenty 512-processor SGI Altix systems using Intel's Itanium 2 processors. With an eventual 10,240 processors, the Space Exploration Simulator will be among the world's largest supercomputers based on the Linux operating system, the company said.

``The machine, to be housed at the Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, will likely be one of the most powerful supercomputers. It will have twice as many processors as the machine from NEC now ranked No. 1 on a list of the 500 fastest supercomputers.''

Full story at News.com:
http://news.com.com/2100-1010-5286156.html