News Archive (pre-July 2020)

Top view of computing facility

Lab breaks ground for exascale facility upgrades

To meet the needs of tomorrow’s supercomputers, NNSA's LLNL has broken ground on its ECFM project, which will substantially upgrade the mechanical and electrical capabilities of the Livermore Computing Center.

Corona computer systems.

Upgrades for LLNL supercomputer from AMD, Penguin Computing aid COVID-19 research

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact millions of people worldwide, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and its industry partners are committed to applying the nation’s most powerful supercomputers and expertise in computational modeling and data science to battling the deadly disease.

Corona virus

New partnership to unleash U.S. supercomputing resources in the fight against COVID-19

The White House announced the launch of the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium to provide COVID-19 researchers worldwide with access to the world’s most powerful high performance computing resources that can significantly advance the pace of scientific discovery in the fight to stop the virus.

El Capitan computer

LLNL and HPE to partner with AMD on El Capitan, projected as world’s fastest supercomputer

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) today announced the selection of AMD as the node supplier for El Capitan, projected to be the world’s most powerful supercomputer when it is fully deployed in 2023.

Convention center floor

LLNL’s presence in HPC shines bright at SC19

At the 2019 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis—better known simply as SC19—Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) once again made its presence known as a force in supercomputing.

Tow men holding awards.

LLNL wins 2019 HPCwire Readers’ and Editors’ Choice Awards for El Capitan

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), along with the Oak Ridge and Argonne national laboratories and Cray Inc., garnered HPCwire Readers’ and Editors’ Choice Awards for Top Supercomputing Achievement for 2019. The awards recognize the announcements earlier this year of the Department of Energy’s first three exascale-class machines: Aurora, Frontier and El Capitan. All three supercomputers will be built by Cray utilizing their Shasta architecture, Slingshot interconnect and new software platform.

Man typing in front of computer servers

Upgrades coming to LLNL’s Corona computing cluster

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is collaborating with Penguin Computing Inc. and graphics card manufacturer AMD to upgrade its unclassified computing cluster Corona to roughly double the amount of graphics processors (GPUs) the system previously had. The upgrade will help meet the needs of NNSA’s Advanced Simulation & Computing program.

Person speaking on pulpit

New TOP500 List unveiled: Sierra stays No. 2 with six other LLNL supercomputers in top 100

The latest TOP500 List of the world's most powerful computers was released at the 2019 International Supercomputing Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC19) in Denver. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL's) IBM/NVIDIA Sierra supercomputer held steady at the No. 2 spot, one of seven Lab systems to crack the top 100, including a brand-new arrival.

El Capitan servers logo

DOE/NNSA, Lab announce partnership with Cray to develop NNSA's first exascale supercomputer

The Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced the signing of contracts with Cray Inc. to build the NNSA’s first exascale supercomputer, "El Capitan." El Capitan will have a peak performance of more than 1.5 exaflops (1.5 quintillion calculations per second) and an anticipated delivery in late 2022.

Lassen super computer

LLNL's Lassen supercomputer leaps to No. 10 on TOP500 list, Sierra remains No. 2

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Lassen joined its companion system Sierra in the top 10 of the TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, announced at the 2019 International Supercomputing Conference (ISC19) in Frankfurt, Germany.

Super computer top view.

New ‘Unify’ File Systems Deliver Fast I/O Performance over Distributed Storage

LLNL’s Center for Applied Scientific Computing (CASC) and Livermore Computing divisions recently joined forces to tackle performance drag caused by input/output (I/O) workloads.

Person speaking

DOE Machines Dominate Record-Breaking SC18

They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and the 30th anniversary of the annual International Conference of High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC18), held Nov. 11-16 in Dallas, did not disappoint.

3D rendering of part

Call for HPC for Energy Innovation proposals

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) Initiative today issued its first joint solicitation for the High Performance Computing for Manufacturing Program (HPC4Mfg) and the High Performance Computing for Materials Program (HPC4Mtls).

5 people holding awards

Sierra honored with Top Supercomputing Achievement from HPCwire

The high performance computing publication HPCwire on Tuesday handed Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLNL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) their Editors’ Choice and Readers’ Choice Awards for the Top Supercomputing Achievement of 2018, recognizing the launch of the world’s two fastest computing systems.

Closer view of back of computer server

New computing cluster coming to Livermore

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in partnership with Penguin Computing, AMD and Mellanox Technologies, will accept delivery of Corona, a new unclassified high-performance computing (HPC) cluster that will provide unique capabilities for Lab researchers and industry partners to explore data science, machine learning and big data analytics.

Super computer top view.

Sierra reaches higher altitudes, takes No. 2 spot on list of world's fastest supercomputers

Sierra, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) newest supercomputer, rose to second place on the list of the world’s fastest computing systems, TOP500 List representatives announced Monday at the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis conference (SC18) in Dallas.

Super computer top view.

Lawrence Livermore Unveils NNSA’s Sierra, World’s Third Fastest Supercomputer

Sierra, one of the fastest supercomputers in the world, will serve the National Nuclear Security Administration’s three nuclear security laboratories, providing high-fidelity simulations in support of NNSA’s core mission of ensuring the safety, security and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

LLNL Director Bill Goldstein and Brian Browsher signing documents

LLNL/U.K. Officials Ink Agreement to Collaborate on HPC Research, Ensure Competitiveness

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the United Kingdom’s governing body for scientific research on Monday announced the signing of a new three-year agreement aimed at improving U.S. and U.K. industries through high performance computing, promoting research collaborations and boosting economic competitiveness in the two countries.

Heatmap computer simulation

DOE's HPC4Manufacturing Program Seeks Industry Proposals for Energy Advances

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Feb. 1 announced up to $3 million will be available to U.S. manufacturers for public/private projects aimed at applying high performance computing to industry challenges for the advancement of energy innovation.

Suspended equipment

DOE Announces First Awardees for New HPC4Materials for "Severe Environments"

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) today announced the funding of $450,000 for the first two private-public partnerships under a brand-new initiative aimed at discovering, designing and scaling up production of novel materials for severe environments.

Circular lines on purple background

DOE Announces Funding for New HPC4Manufacturing Industry Projects

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) today announced the funding of $1.87 million for seven new industry projects under an ongoing initiative designed to utilize DOE’s high-performance computing (HPC) resources and expertise to advance U.S. manufacturing and clean-energy technologies.

Paper microscopic view

Lab-led HPC for Manufacturing Project Wins "Innovation Excellence" Award at SC17

An HPC for Manufacturing project aimed at saving time and money for paper product manufacturers earned an HPC Innovation Excellence Award at the 2017 SuperComputing Conference (SC17) in Denver on Nov. 14.

Sierra super computer.

Siting Sierra: Lawrence Livermore’s Newest and Fastest Supercomputer is Taking Shape

Work is moving fast and furious in the Livermore Computing Complex at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where siting and installation for Sierra, the Lab’s next advanced technology high-performance supercomputer, is kicking into high gear.

6 people holding awards.

HPCwire Awards Lab Scientists at SC17

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers won big at the 2017 SuperComputing Conference (SC17) in Denver, taking home two HPCwire Editor’s Choice awards for their work in applying high-performance computing (HPC) to solve complex challenges.

Sierra logo

Exascale in Motion on Earthquake Risks

To capture precisely the detailed geology and physics of earthquake motions, and how the shaking impacts buildings, Lawrence Livermore (LLNL) and Lawrence Berkeley (LBNL) scientists are building an end-to-end simulation framework.

Green strings computer simulation

Atomic-scale Simulations Resolve the "Jiggle and Wiggle" of Metal Strength

In a first-of-its-kind series of computer simulations, LLNL researchers have dived down to the atomic scale to resolve every “jiggle and wiggle” of atomic motion that underlies metal strength.

Yellow waves computer simulation

Lab Leads New High-Performance Computing for Materials (HPC4Mtls) Program

The new HPC4Mtls Program aims to reduce the cost and time spent on development, as well as increase performance of materials in severe environments, potentially saving industry millions of dollars.

Black and white strands

Computation Boosts Materials Discovery

Livermore materials and computation scientists and engineers have come together to create a modern development approach that applies machine learning, high-performance computing, and big data analytics to accelerate materials discovery.

Computer rendering of tube

A National Security Code is Reborn for Industry

A team led by Livermore computational engineers is developing a version of the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian three-dimensional (ALE3D) code called ALE3D-4I (“ALE3D for Industry”) that can be widely shared with research partners.

People in room.

National Labs, Industry Partners Prepare for New Era of Computing Through Centers of Excellence

To aid in the transition and prepare researchers for pre-exascale and exascale systems, LLNL has brought experts from IBM and NVIDIA together with Lab computer scientists in a Center of Excellence (CoE).

Design with logo HPC4 Manufacturing

DOE's HPC for Manufacturing Program Seeks Industry Proposals to Advance Energy Tech

The U.S. Department of Energy's High Performance Computing for Manufacturing Program, designed to spur the use of national lab supercomputing resources and expertise to advance innovation in energy efficient manufacturing, is seeking a new round of proposals from industry to compete for $3 million.

Computer simulation of different layers

LLNL and LBNL Researchers Explore More Energy-efficient Solutions for Paper Industry

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore (LLNL) and Lawrence Berkeley (LBNL) national laboratories are using the national labs’ supercomputing capabilities to look at more energy efficient and cost-saving ways to make paper.

Design with logo HPC4 Manufacturing

DOE HPC4Mfg Program Funds 13 New Projects to Improve Energy Technologies Through HPC

A U.S. Department of Energy program designed to spur the use of high performance supercomputers to advance U.S. manufacturing is funding 13 new industry projects for a total of $3.9 million.

Two persons working on motherboard.

A Center of Excellence Prepares for Sierra

Application developers and their industry partners are working to achieve both performance and cross-platform portability as they ready science applications for the arrival of Livermore's next flagship supercomputer.

Computer rendering of wave forms

Computational Innovation Boosts Manufacturing

High-performance computing solutions provided by Lawrence Livermore and other national laboratories help U.S. manufacturers accelerate innovation and increase efficiencies.

Strings computer rendering

High-Performance Computing Takes Aim at Cancer

A historic partnership between the Department of Energy and the National Cancer Institute is applying the power of Lawrence Livermore supercomputers to tough problems in medical science.

Powerwall display

Lawrence Livermore Tapped to Lead "Co-design" Center for Exascale Computing Ecosystem

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was one of four national labs selected today to lead a "co-design" center by the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project (link is external)(ECP) as part of a four-year, $48 million funding award.

Exascale Computing logo

Scientists Selected to Lead Exascale Computing Project Software Development

Lawrence Livermore scientists are among those awarded funding to develop software for the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project (ECP).

Person presenting in front of large screen

Laboratory and Norwegian Researchers Collaborate to Improve Cancer Screening

Laboratory computer scientists and Norwegian researchers are collaborating to apply high performance computing (HPC) to the analysis of medical data to improve screening for cervical cancer.

Vulcan computer

Energy Department to Invest $16 Million to Accelerate Computer Design of Materials

The Department of Energy announced that it will invest $16 million over the next four years to accelerate the design of new materials through the use of supercomputers.

People cutting a red ribbon in front of building

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Dedicates New Supercomputer Facility

A new, $9.8 million modular and sustainable facility provides the Laboratory flexibility to accommodate future advances in computer technology and meet a rapidly growing demand for unclassified high-performance computing (HPC).

IBM equipment

Lawrence Livermore and IBM Collaborate to Build New Brain-inspired Supercomputer

A chip-architecture breakthrough will accelerate the path to exascale computing; helps computers tackle complex, cognitive tasks such as pattern recognition sensory processing.

Person standing in a room full of computer servers

Sequoia Supercomputer Enables Gordon Bell Prize-winning Simulation on Earth's Mantle

The full power of Lawrence Livermore’s Sequoia supercomputer played a key role in the Earth mantle convection simulation by a University of Texas-led team that won the 2015 Gordon Bell Prize, announced at this year’s Supercomputing Conference (SC15).

Sierra logo

Tri-lab Collaboration That Will Bring Sierra Supercomputer to Lab Recognized

The collaboration of Oak Ridge, Argonne and Lawrence Livermore (CORAL) that will bring the Sierra supercomputer to the Lab in 2018 has been recognized by HPCWire (link is external) with an Editor’s Choice Award for Best HPC Collaboration between Government and Industry.

Photo of Anna Maria Bailey

State Grant Enables Energy-Saving Retrofit of Computing Clusters

Supercomputers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will be retrofitted with liquid cooling systems under a California Energy Commission (CEC) grant to assess potential energy savings.

Sierra logo

Labs, Industry Form Centers of Excellence to Speed Research, Strengthen National Security

IBM, along with NVIDIA and two U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories, today announced a pair of Centers of Excellence for supercomputing—one at Lawrence Livermore and the other at Oak Ridge. The collaborations are in support of IBM's supercomputing contract with the DOE.

Computer rendering of building as seen from above.

Lab Breaks Ground on Unclassified Supercomputing Facility

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory broke ground today on a modular and sustainable supercomputing facility that will provide a flexible infrastructure able to accommodate the Laboratory's growing demand for high performance computing (HPC).

CTS1 logo

Labs Tap Silicon Valley to Bolster Computing

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory today announced the awarding of a subcontract to Penguin Computing — a leading developer of high-performance Linux cluster computing systems based in Silicon Valley — to bolster computing for stockpile stewardship at its three national security laboratories.

Catalyst computer system

Catalyst Supercomputer Collaboration Recognized

The partnership that produced the first-of-a-kind Catalyst supercomputer was selected for an HPCWire “Best HPC Collaboration Between Government & Industry” award by readers and editors of the publication.

Sequoia graph

Sequoia Tops Graph 500

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists’ search for new ways to solve large complex national security problems led to the top ranking on Graph 500 and new techniques for solving large graph problems on small high performance computing (HPC) systems, all the way down to a single server.

CORAL Collaboration logo

Energy Secretary Moniz Announces CORAL Contracts

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz announced two new High Performance Computing (HPC) awards to put the nation on a fast-track to next generation exascale computing, which will help to advance U.S. leadership in scientific research and promote America’s economic and national security.

CORAL Collaboration logo

Livermore Announces Contract with IBM for Sierra Supercomputer

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced a contract with IBM to deliver a next-generation supercomputer in 2017. The system, to be called Sierra, will serve the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program.

 
ASC logo

FastForward 2

The FastForward 2 Request for Proposals (RFP) was released on April 8, 2014, with responses due by May 9. The FastForward 2 RFP objective is to initiate partnerships with multiple companies to accelerate the R&D of critical technologies needed for extreme-scale computing.

Superimposed image of supercomputer and sequoia tree

Reaching for New Computational Heights with Sequoia

Sequoia has assumed dual roles as a platform for stockpile stewardship research and exascale computing preparation.