IBM has developed technology to speed up the way large computer networks access and share information, with implications for solving problems such as issuing tsunami warnings and improving medical research.Under a project code-named “Fastball,” IBM’s ASC Purple supercomputer—the third most powerful in the world—has been able to achieve 102GBps of sustained read-and-write performance to a single file. That’s the equivalent of downloading 25,000 songs in a second over the Internet, according to the company.IBM’s General Parallel File System software was used to manage the transfer of data between thousands of processors and disk storage devices. IBM said it had to enhance the software in several areas to handle such fast data rates. For example, it added new capabilities to orchestrate the flow of data between all of the hardware components in the system.“If they all go real fast at the same time, you get a traffic jam and performance goes down,” says Chris Maher, director of high-performance computing development for IBM’s Systems and Technology Group. ASC Purple is housed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. IBM supplied the computer to the U.S. Department of Energy and the lab for use in nuclear weapons research. In the Fastball demonstration, 1,000 clients requested a file at the same time. Through virtualization, the software then spread that file across hundreds of disk drives.Maher says this kind of computing could be used for applications such as a tsunami warning device that would scrutinize huge amounts of information from the ocean and analyze it quickly, or for homeland security, to scan images of people and match them against large databases. Other applications could include medical research and online gaming. Related content opinion Website spoofing: risks, threats, and mitigation strategies for CIOs In this article, we take a look at how CIOs can tackle website spoofing attacks and the best ways to prevent them. By Yash Mehta Dec 01, 2023 5 mins CIO Cyberattacks Security brandpost Sponsored by Catchpoint Systems Inc. Gain full visibility across the Internet Stack with IPM (Internet Performance Monitoring) Today’s IT systems have more points of failure than ever before. Internet Performance Monitoring provides visibility over external networks and services to mitigate outages. By Neal Weinberg Dec 01, 2023 3 mins IT Operations brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers can save money during periods of economic uncertainty Now is the time to overcome the challenges of perimeter-based architectures and reduce costs with zero trust. By Zscaler Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Security feature LexisNexis rises to the generative AI challenge With generative AI, the legal information services giant faces its most formidable disruptor yet. That’s why CTO Jeff Reihl is embracing and enhancing the technology swiftly to keep in front of the competition. By Paula Rooney Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Generative AI Digital Transformation Cloud Computing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe