Cray T3D
Encyclopedia
The T3D was Cray Research's first attempt at a massively parallel
supercomputer
architecture. Launched in 1993, it also marked Cray's first use of another company's microprocessor
. The T3D consisted of between 32 and 2048 Processing Elements (PEs), each comprising a 150 MHz DEC
Alpha 21064
(EV4) microprocessor and either 16 or 64 MB
of DRAM. PEs were grouped in pairs, or nodes, which incorporated a 6-way processor interconnect switch. These switches had a peak bandwidth of 300 MB/second in each direction and were connected to form a three-dimensional torus
network topology.
The T3D was designed to be hosted by a Cray Y-MP
Model E, M90 or C90
-series "front-end" system and rely on it and its UNICOS
operating system
for all I/O and most system services. The T3D PEs ran a simple microkernel
called UNICOS MAX.
Several different configurations of T3D were available. The SC (Single Cabinet) models shared a cabinet with a host Y-MP system and were available with either 128 or 256 PEs. The MC (Multi-Cabinet) models were housed in one or more liquid-cooled cabinet(s) separately from the host, while the MCA models were smaller (32 to 128 PEs) air-cooled multi-cabinet configurations. There was also a liquid-cooled MCN model which had an alternative interconnect wiremat allowing non-power-of-2 numbers of PEs.
The Cray T3D MC cabinet had an Apple Macintosh PowerBook
laptop built into its front. Its only purpose was to display animated Cray Research and T3D logos on its color LCD screen.
The first T3D delivered was a prototype installed at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
in early September 1993. The supercomputer was formally introduced on 27 September 1993.
The T3D was superseded in 1995 by the faster and more sophisticated Cray T3E
.
Massively parallel
Massively parallel is a description which appears in computer science, life sciences, medical diagnostics, and other fields.A massively parallel computer is a distributed memory computer system which consists of many individual nodes, each of which is essentially an independent computer in itself,...
supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
architecture. Launched in 1993, it also marked Cray's first use of another company's microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
. The T3D consisted of between 32 and 2048 Processing Elements (PEs), each comprising a 150 MHz DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
Alpha 21064
Alpha 21064
The Alpha 21064 is a microprocessor developed and fabricated by Digital Equipment Corporation that implemented the Alpha instruction set architecture . It was introduced as the DECchip 21064 before it was renamed in 1994. The 21064 is also known by its code name, EV4...
(EV4) microprocessor and either 16 or 64 MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
of DRAM. PEs were grouped in pairs, or nodes, which incorporated a 6-way processor interconnect switch. These switches had a peak bandwidth of 300 MB/second in each direction and were connected to form a three-dimensional torus
Torus
In geometry, a torus is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle...
network topology.
The T3D was designed to be hosted by a Cray Y-MP
Cray Y-MP
The Cray Y-MP was a supercomputer sold by Cray Research from 1988, and the successor to the company's X-MP. The Y-MP retained software compatibility with the X-MP, but extended the address registers from 24 to 32 bits. High-density VLSI ECL technology was used and a new liquid cooling system was...
Model E, M90 or C90
Cray C90
The Cray C90 series was a vector processor supercomputer launched by Cray Research in 1991. The C90 was a development of the Cray Y-MP architecture. Compared to the Y-MP, the C90 processor had a dual vector pipeline and a faster 4.1 ns clock cycle , which together gave three times the...
-series "front-end" system and rely on it and its UNICOS
Unicos
UNICOS is the name of a range of Unix-like operating system variants developed by Cray for its supercomputers. UNICOS is the successor of the Cray Operating System . It provides network clustering and source code compatibility layers for some other Unixes. UNICOS was originally introduced in 1985...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
for all I/O and most system services. The T3D PEs ran a simple microkernel
Microkernel
In computer science, a microkernel is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system . These mechanisms include low-level address space management, thread management, and inter-process communication...
called UNICOS MAX.
Several different configurations of T3D were available. The SC (Single Cabinet) models shared a cabinet with a host Y-MP system and were available with either 128 or 256 PEs. The MC (Multi-Cabinet) models were housed in one or more liquid-cooled cabinet(s) separately from the host, while the MCA models were smaller (32 to 128 PEs) air-cooled multi-cabinet configurations. There was also a liquid-cooled MCN model which had an alternative interconnect wiremat allowing non-power-of-2 numbers of PEs.
The Cray T3D MC cabinet had an Apple Macintosh PowerBook
PowerBook
The PowerBook was a line of Macintosh laptop computers that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become...
laptop built into its front. Its only purpose was to display animated Cray Research and T3D logos on its color LCD screen.
The first T3D delivered was a prototype installed at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center is a high performance computing and networking center. PSC is a joint effort of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh together with Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1986 by...
in early September 1993. The supercomputer was formally introduced on 27 September 1993.
The T3D was superseded in 1995 by the faster and more sophisticated Cray T3E
Cray T3E
The Cray T3E was Cray Research's second-generation massively parallel supercomputer architecture, launched in late November 1995. The first T3E was installed at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center in 1996. Like the previous Cray T3D, it was a fully distributed memory machine using a 3D torus...
.
External links
- [ftp://ftp.cray.com/product-info/mpp/T3D_Architecture_Over/T3D.overview.html CRAY T3D System Architecture Overview Manual]