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NERSC 3 Greenbook

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Special Computers

The role of special or experimental computers is still important to the ER scientific community. Some special computer systems may be ideal for specific grand challenge problems but with the current fiscal constraints, dedicating resources to a single grand challenge problem are unlikely. The real role for experimental computers is to lay the ground work for the next generation of production computer systems. Experimental computers allow the evaluation of new hardware and software architectures. The evaluation must be performed in an application environment that stresses every component of the computer (hardware and software). The high performance computing research centers (HPCRC) and access to such systems provided by programs such as NERSC's MPP program have filled this role well. Support for these activities and centers should be continued. The success of an MPP system in the NERSC facility will be built upon the lessons learned at the HPCRC supercomputer centers.