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Linux at IBM >
Calm Waters
The U.S. Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center looks to both grid computing and Linux clusters to forecast the weather - By Jim Utsler
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| Fewer things are more important to sailors and pilots than up-to-date weather forecasts. After all, the weather can make or break operational plans, with cloud cover, for example, forcing a change in flyover locations or targeting, or poor sea conditions altering the timing or type of naval maneuvers. |
| That’s why the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC), a U.S. Navy activity, has deployed an SGI and IBM eServer pSeries* technology-based high-performance computing (HPC) environment that helps it make sure U.S. military forces have the latest information about both current and future weather conditions. FNMOC is also developing an xSeries* technology-based Linux* cluster that allows it to display, animate and distribute the output from its weather prediction models and related data to users all around the world. |
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| Notably, FNMOC is approaching this environment with not only power, but also cost and flexibility in mind. That’s why some of its efforts, especially pertaining to the second iteration of its Applications, Transactions, Observations Subsystem (ATOS2), are focusing on Linux, with the organization realizing that spending can be kept in check by deploying open standards-based technologies. Similarly, FNMOC is considering moving to an HPC grid, sharing computing resources with other HPC centers. In the longer term, it’s also looking into utility-type computing, with a company such as IBM hosting its applications in an on demand environment, thereby lessening its capital investment in hardware while allowing it to keep up with the latest technologies. |
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