GPU computing at Boston University

Lorena Barba, Claudio Rebbi, Glenn Bresnahan, Richard Brower. Photo by Saana McDaniel (2012).

Prof. Barba, together with Profs. Richard Brower and Claudio Rebbi, funded the first GPU cluster in BU named 'bungee', with a grant from the National Science Foundation.

The researchers had the inspired goal of reaching out to other computing-intensive groups, and opened access to the facility. They organized two "GPU@BU" workshops and CUDA tutorials and a community gelled. This played a role in the most recent event: the donation of 160 GPUs, valued at $320k, by HP. This donated equipment will be installed in a new cluster bought with funds from IS&T and the CCS. The new system, to be known as 'budge', will be the largest academic GPU cluster in the East Coast when it comes online in Spring 2013.

Links

• College of Engineering news "Boston University Engineers and Scientists Gain Top-Tier Computing Power"
• College of Arts and Sciences news "BU to Launch the East Coast's Largest GPU Cluster"

Reference

• "GPU@BU—GPU computing at Boston University", L. A. Barba. (29 November 2012). 10.6084/m9.figshare.98875
  

  A short history of GPU computing at Boston University, made into a handout for the BU booth at the Supercomputing Conference, Salt Lake City, November 2012. Published on figshare under CC-BY.