Union's SKIF-GRID programme to get over RUB1bn in funding

The Union State research and development programme “Development and utilisation of GRID software and hardware solutions and prospective high-performance SKIF-family supercomputer systems” will get RUB1.02 billion in funding, Sergei Ablameiko, Director General of the United Information Technologies Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, said at a press conference in Minsk today.

For the programme the Union State budget will allocate RUB681 million, including RUB446.5 million for the Russian Federation and RUB234.5 million for the Republic of Belarus.

Sergei Ablameiko noted, the SKIF-GRID programme is a new step towards advancing and using supercomputer technologies developed as part of SKIF and TRIADA programmes, taking GRID technologies to a new level. He explained, GRID nets enable access to supercomputer resources from any workstation and allow using the entire power of a supercomputer for non-nonsense tasks.

The new programme includes several basic areas, including the development and assimilation of GRID-based high-performance computing. There are also plans to design new-generation SKIF supercomputers using state-of-the-art approaches and bleeding-edge solutions for interconnecting the components, cluster management and assembly of hybrid nodes. There are plans to develop data protection solutions for the GRID networks and to research promising applications for the computers to be created.

The programme will be launched in Q3 2007, noted Sergei Ablameiko.

He also envisaged multiple applications for the SKIF supercomputer in various industries, including machine-tool engineering, defence industries, medicine and others. Supercomputers will handle major tasks in a cost-effective manner.

Source: BelTA