RadioFreeHPC
128 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsPodcast for fans of supercomputing and other tech topics. Since 2012. Stay "tuned"! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/radio-free-hpc-podcast/id557931368 http://RadioFreeHPC.com
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Episodes
NSF, QIS Funding, But First...
June 30, 2020 21:0618th Listener Awards! Run-of-the-mill start as we introduce the team. Henry has quite a bit of echo since he’s now firmly ensconced in his rammed earth survival compound. Big news this week! We finally received our 18th email in our first ever RadioFreeHPC email-to-win contest. First, let’s see what they win… The first item in our Grand Prize bundle is a circa 1999 suede leather IBM S/390 laptop bag. It’s roomy at a generous 16”x14”, large enough to house the biggest 17” laptop or maybe 1...
New Top on the TOP500 – 415 PF!
June 22, 2020 15:01Breaking News Edition We have a new #1 on the TOP500 list of most powerful supercomputers! Big gets bigger by a factor of 2.8x as Fujitsu’s “Supercomputer Fugaku” tops the list at 415 PFlops. There are also an additional three new entries in the top ten. We break down the top of the list in… Read More »New Top on the TOP500 – 415 PF!
@HPC_Guru Speaketh! Kind of.
June 19, 2020 16:00 - 17.7 MBOur Guest Today is… In this extraordinary episode of Radio Free HPC, the crew interviews the industry icon that is @HPC_Guru. This is the first time that anyone has been granted an interview with him and we’re proud to have been chosen for this honor. We posed an even dozen questions and received very thoughtful… Read More »@HPC_Guru Speaketh! Kind of.
HPC on the Edge
June 13, 2020 00:02 - 27.2 MBNew Book Makes Sense of Edge Computing After our typical inane opening, which includes an update on Henry’s Las Cruces bunker with 21” rammed earth walls, we get quickly down to business and begin our interview with very special guest, Dr. Cody Bumgardner, Assistant Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of Kentucky.… Read More »HPC on the Edge
A is for Ampere, Nvidia A100's Public Debut
June 01, 2020 23:10NOTE: The publication of this episode was delayed due to the untimely passing of our partner and pal Rich Brueckner. So what we’re announcing as "breaking news" isn’t so fresh today, but our takes on what NVIDIA’s new A100 processor brings to the table are still valid. Breaking News! This special edition of RadioFreeHPC takes a deep dive into NVIDIA’s spanking new A100 GPU – which is an impressive achievement in processor-dom. The new chip is built with a 7nm process and weighs in at a hef...
A is for Ampere, Nvidia A100’s Public Debut
June 01, 2020 22:27 - 32.4 MBNOTE: The publication of this episode was delayed due to the untimely passing of our partner and pal Rich Brueckner. So what we’re announcing as “breaking news” isn’t so fresh today, but our takes on what NVIDIA’s new A100 processor brings to the table are still valid. Breaking News! This special edition of RadioFreeHPC… Read More »A is for Ampere, Nvidia A100’s Public Debut
Tribute to Rich Brueckner, 1962-2020
May 27, 2020 15:45 - 20.9 MBby Dan Olds This is a tough blog to write for this RadioFreeHPC episode. This is the episode where we say a final goodbye to our co-founder and comrade in arms Rich Brueckner. Rich passed away suddenly last week leaving us shocked and shaken. The whole genesis of RFHPC came out of Rich and I… Read More »Tribute to Rich Brueckner, 1962-2020
Debate This: Server Sales Up 30% in Q1, Says Analyst Firm
May 18, 2020 22:37 - 19.9 MBWe start off with an update from our crew. Jessie is at Purdue putting her belongings into storage in order to clear out her current abode. Shahin is doing fine, all quarantined up down in Silicon Valley. Henry has big news: he’s completed his north-south journey and is now staying in a hotel very close… Read More »Debate This: Server Sales Up 30% in Q1, Says Analyst Firm
ColdQuanta Serves Up Some Bose-Einstein Condensate
May 08, 2020 06:03 - 21.2 MBThe show starts with Dan, Jessi and Shahin in attendance. Henry is traveling from his old home base in Minnesota to his new command bunker in lovely Las Cruces, NM. Last we heard he was in Kansas City and making good time. We’re not sure how long we’re going to have to do without him… Read More »ColdQuanta Serves Up Some Bose-Einstein Condensate
What Good Did It Do? Quite a Lot, and Quite the Story
May 02, 2020 07:16 - 28.6 MBA typical show opening, but we’re missing Henry – he was away packing for his big move from his long-time home base in Minnesota to his new bunker in Las Cruces. He’s packing up all of his memorabilia, like his first punch card sets, his core memory collection and his home terminal, lovingly wrapping them… Read More »What Good Did It Do? Quite a Lot, and Quite the Story
Honeywell Traps, Zaps Ions for Science
April 24, 2020 18:39 - 19.1 MBDan starts this episode with, as usual, an introduction of the cast. Henry reports that he’s only three weeks away from his epic move from Minnesota to Los Cruces, New Mexico. Trapping Those Unruly Ions We quickly move to our main topic: Honeywell’s Trapped Ion Quantum computing initiative. Shahin gives us a good overview of… Read More »Honeywell Traps, Zaps Ions for Science
SIHOGLIC: The Life & Times of Charles Babbage
April 21, 2020 22:13 - 10.5 MBRadioFreeHPC Studios Presents Slightly Inaccurate History of Great Leaps in Computing (SIHOGLIC) Edition One In this groundbreaking production, RadioFreeHPC Studios reenacts dramatic moments in the life of computing genius Charles Babbage. We breath life into his early days, his many battles and his Babbage-worthy achievements. We can honestly say, without hyperbole, that this is the… Read More »SIHOGLIC: The Life & Times of Charles Babbage
AI in Science. When is it real?
April 15, 2020 07:02 - 20 MBWe fire up the show with introductions and a little snippiness on Dan’s part. Henry reports that the weather in Minnesota is nearly human. AI in Science Jumping into our main topic, Shahin introduces an article from HPCwire interviewing Argonne’s Associate Laboratory Director Rick Stevens about how the DOE will be using AI in science.… Read More »AI in Science. When is it real?
Supercomputers Battle Corona
April 08, 2020 05:01 - 15.3 MBThe conversation today begins with discussing how long it will take until Henry moves into his rammed earth Los Cruces bunker. For those of you keeping track at home, the correct answer was 41 days at the time of taping, which, by the time the podcast is out will probably be “a couple of weeks… Read More »Supercomputers Battle Corona
Climbing El Capitan? Details Detailed!
March 31, 2020 21:14 - 18.6 MBSupercomputer Leaps to New Peaks At the top of the show we discuss whether Indiana (where Jessi is located at Purdue) is in the heartland or not. We all agree that it is and, yes, Jessi sees Larry Bird all the time. Getting into the heart of the episode, Dan talks about the briefing he… Read More »Climbing El Capitan? Details Detailed!
One Big Debate over OneAPI
March 17, 2020 00:39 - 21 MBFor RadioFreeHPC aficionados, it’s a typical opening for this episode. Henry is counting down the days until he moves to sunny Los Cruces and we have a lull in the conversation right after the introductions. We recover quickly and move onto the main course of today’s show: Intel’s OneAPI project The OneAPI project is a… Read More »One Big Debate over OneAPI
Let's Learn Deeply about Extreme Weather
March 09, 2020 18:52This week we have Dan, Jessi, and Shahin on the call. Henry is off in Los Cruces overseeing construction of what can only be called a bunker. Why? Its main feature is 21-inch rammed earth walls, guaranteed to withstand withering heat waves, cold snaps, and probably any high caliber round. We speculate on the exact configuration of the home, wondering if Henry is running wild with the rammed earth and concrete theme, with concrete chairs and tables, plus rammed earth interior walls. Applying ...
Let’s Learn Deeply about Extreme Weather
March 09, 2020 18:52 - 19.4 MBThis week we have Dan, Jessi, and Shahin on the call. Henry is off in Los Cruces overseeing construction of what can only be called a bunker. Why? Its main feature is 21-inch rammed earth walls, guaranteed to withstand withering heat waves, cold snaps, and probably any high caliber round. We speculate on the exact… Read More »Let’s Learn Deeply about Extreme Weather
Slingshotting to Exascale, It's Hot!
March 05, 2020 00:59At the top of this episode, Henry notes that the temperature in his city will be touching -15F, which is plenty cold. However, it’s very good overclocking weather as Dan and Shahin point out. Not quite quantum weather, unfortunately. Cray Slingshot Interconnect We quickly get to the main topic of the day, an examination of HPE/Cray’s Slingshot interconnect. It’s Ethernet on HPC steroids and will be the interconnect of choice for their upcoming slate of Exascale systems. Slingshot includes a ...
Slingshotting to Exascale, It’s Hot!
March 05, 2020 00:40 - 22 MBAt the top of this episode, Henry notes that the temperature in his city will be touching -15F, which is plenty cold. However, it’s very good overclocking weather as Dan and Shahin point out. Not quite quantum weather, unfortunately. Cray Slingshot Interconnect We quickly get to the main topic of the day, an examination of… Read More »Slingshotting to Exascale, It’s Hot!
Coronavirus
February 18, 2020 06:04 - 14.2 MBThe show starts with our traditional lull, which always follows our initial introductions – when no one knows who should speak first, or prefer not to. However, we quickly regain our footing and get to the major topic of the day: the coronavirus or COVID-19 as the doctors have dubbed it. Shahin started out the… Read More »Coronavirus
Faster Weather, Pizza, Tires
February 06, 2020 19:33 - 17.2 MBAnd High Powered Radio Towers, too The show starts out in the usual way with check ups on the health and happiness of our hosts. Jessi finished a 50-mile race over the weekend, which is admirable, particularly when you consider she was on foot. With a reasonable decent segue, Dan moves the conversation to the… Read More »Faster Weather, Pizza, Tires
ZFS, AI for System Design, Power in GCE
January 28, 2020 10:42 - 23.1 MBSurprise! It’s Snowing in Minnesota The show starts on a combative note with Henry refusing to discuss how much snow is arrayed around his house. Dan shares his dream running a snowblower and Henry offers up his house but doesn’t offer airfare, which, assumedly, would be a deal breaker for the ever-cheap Dan Olds. ZFS… Read More »ZFS, AI for System Design, Power in GCE
2020 Predictions, Get it?!
January 15, 2020 21:43 - 25.5 MBShiny Crystal Ball It’s our first episode of 2020, yay! The first that was recorded in 2020 anyway. It’s a predictable 20/20 joke (more of a meh comment really) but the topic today is… PREDICTIONS. More specifically, it’s our predictions of what’s going to happen in the next year. We may not always be correct,… Read More »2020 Predictions, Get it?!
Quantum, Quantum, Quantum
January 07, 2020 03:14 - 16 MBThis episode was recorded back in 2019 but then the holiday episode had to go out during holidays and cut in line, messing up the cogs of the well-oiled machine that is the RFHPC production process. Regardless, the episode starts out with Henry being cranky. It also ends with Henry being cranky. But between those… Read More »Quantum, Quantum, Quantum
2019 Holiday Episode (video): Family Dinner at RFHPC
December 31, 2019 03:29 - 856 MB VideoIt’s become a tradition at RadioFreeHPC to celebrate the holidays with a video of the holiday episode. The new logo launches the video: celebrating a truly family style dinner and dreaming big (maybe too creatively, however) as the team exchanges “if-only” gifts! Here’s the Director’s Cut version of the video: And the edited audio-only,… Read More »2019 Holiday Episode (video): Family Dinner at RFHPC
South Africa CHPC National Conference
December 22, 2019 03:00 - 29 MBSA Students Get Ready to take ISC by Storm Probably 15% more scintillating than usual, Dan promises as he calls this episode “fantastic”! Now a 5-day conference with two days of workshops as book-ends, multiple tracks and many speakers, and yes, a very exciting Student Cluster Competition, the CHPC National Conference has developed into a… Read More »South Africa CHPC National Conference
SC19: Our Visit to the State Fair
December 13, 2019 10:37 - 32.6 MBSC19 Postview Our show today is all about what we saw at the “State Fair for Nerds” that is SC19. Where there weren’t any livestock shows or supercomputers carved out of butter, there was a lot to see and hear. Shahin talks about the European Processor Initiative and conversations that he had with folks from… Read More »SC19: Our Visit to the State Fair
SC19 Student Cluster Competition - Recap
November 28, 2019 09:59SC19 Student Cluster Round Up The show starts in the usual way, with Henry complaining about snow and us laughing at him. Our special guest, student clusterer extraordinaire Jessi Lanum, complains about recording again with Henry in a definite shot across his bow, to everyone’s amusement. The group discusses their annual SC19 dinner and the new Henry/Dan bet about the future of RISC-V – check out our last show for the specifics. We talk about our experiences at SC19, including Henry havin...
SC19 Student Cluster Competition – Recap
November 28, 2019 04:31 - 33.8 MBSC19 Student Cluster Round Up The show starts in the usual way, with Henry complaining about snow and us laughing at him. Our special guest, student clusterer extraordinaire Jessi Lanum, complains about recording again with Henry in a definite shot across his bow, to everyone’s amusement. The group discusses their annual SC19 dinner and the… Read More »SC19 Student Cluster Competition – Recap
New TOP500 List: Spot The Difference
November 18, 2019 13:46 - 9.35 MBLive from SC19 In this Breaking News edition of RadioFreeHPC, we look over the newly released TOP500 list in all its glory. We talk about the changes in this version of the list (100 new systems, but none in the top 24), how the major countries stack up against each other, and vendor system share.… Read More »New TOP500 List: Spot The Difference
SC19 Student Cluster Competition - Preview
November 16, 2019 06:50Blood Sweat Glory, But No Tears “This is a groundbreaking episode of RadioFreeHPC….groundbreaking, I tell you! We have a very special guest, our first post-millennial commentator, Jessi Lanum who is a Student Cluster Competition veteran and is on the show to give us an insider peek at what it’s like to compete for cluster competition glory. Like a fresh ocean breeze, Jessi adds a lot to this episode with her enthusiasm, wit, and smart pithy comments. Our topic today is the 2019 Student Clu...
SC19 Student Cluster Competition – Preview
November 16, 2019 06:48 - 42.1 MBBlood Sweat Glory, But No Tears “This is a groundbreaking episode of RadioFreeHPC….groundbreaking, I tell you! We have a very special guest, our first post-millennial commentator, Jessi Lanum who is a Student Cluster Competition veteran and is on the show to give us an insider peek at what it’s like to compete for cluster competition… Read More »SC19 Student Cluster Competition – Preview
Truth, Trust, and Deepfakes
November 12, 2019 16:31 - 27.6 MBYou never write, you never call, you never send flowers “just because.” But that’s ok, we welcome you back to another scintillating episode of Radio Free HPC anyway. Henry is traveling on yet another business trip, lodged in the Washington, DC area, and not even in his favorite hotel chain. But his reputation as a… Read More »Truth, Trust, and Deepfakes
Preview of Supercomputing '19 - Denver
November 06, 2019 21:38What's All Happening at SC19 in Denver? Supercomputing '19 is coming to Denver this year and who better than Rich Brueckner to give us a sneak peak. Super excited to have Rich and his signature laugh on this show again. In this podcast, the Radio Free HPC team reviews the full list of ancillary events at SC19, and Henry gives us one more reason to stay offline. Oh, and a few predictions. There's a lot that happens before the exhibit floor on Monday night. Our old pal Rich Brueckner from i...
Preview of Supercomputing ’19 – Denver
November 06, 2019 21:17 - 21.7 MBWhat’s All Happening at SC19 in Denver? Supercomputing ’19 is coming to Denver this year and who better than Rich Brueckner to give us a sneak peak. Super excited to have Rich and his signature laugh on this show again. In this podcast, the Radio Free HPC team reviews the full list of ancillary events… Read More »Preview of Supercomputing ’19 – Denver
7 Years, 251 Episodes, 17 Listeners
November 03, 2019 02:38 - 20 MBRadioFreeHPC Celebrates a Number in its Prime Welcome to a historic milestone: Our 251st Radio Free HPC episode! We’re celebrating 251 rather than 250 for a couple of reasons. First, everyone celebrates round numbers and that’s boring. And 251 is round enough for those who crave them. Second, 251 is a prime number and we… Read More »7 Years, 251 Episodes, 17 Listeners
Fragile: Python, sudo, AI
October 25, 2019 04:04How Many Episodes, Did You Say?! The show is geographically skewed today with all three hosts on the west coast. Henry is gracing Seattle with his presence, resulting in plunging coffee inventories and skyrocketing sushi prices. The first item of discussion is a problem in the scientific software world. There’s a bug in Python scripts that caused different results in identical routines run on different operating systems. For example, the results on macOS Maverick and Windows 10 were signifi...
Fragile: Python, sudo, AI
October 25, 2019 04:03 - 17 MBHow Many Episodes, Did You Say?! The show is geographically skewed today with all three hosts on the west coast. Henry is gracing Seattle with his presence, resulting in plunging coffee inventories and skyrocketing sushi prices. The first item of discussion is a problem in the scientific software world. There’s a bug in Python scripts… Read More »Fragile: Python, sudo, AI
RISC-V CEO Sees Bright Global Future for Open Source CPUs
October 18, 2019 00:02 - 32.5 MBRISC-V, Historic Passwords Revealed, End of the World We’re missing Henry S. Newman this week, who is down in Los Cruces inspecting and overseeing the construction of his new crib. Dan and Shahin discuss just how little they’d want to be the general contractor working to build Henry’s house. Henry would be deploying a set… Read More »RISC-V CEO Sees Bright Global Future for Open Source CPUs
Turing Machine is Sequential, How About a Parallel Machine?
October 13, 2019 21:00 - 26.2 MBSolving Exponential Problems in Polynomial Time Pretty much all of computing rests on the strong foundation of the Turing Machine, a general purpose formulation of computing which happens to be very sequential. It transfers that attribute to the Von Neumann architecture that manifests it and leads to the famous Von Neumann bottleneck. It would be… Read More »Turing Machine is Sequential, How About a Parallel Machine?
Quantum Supremacy? Yes and No!
October 06, 2019 09:06 - 16.7 MBQuantum Supremacy Is and Is Not How quantum is that?! The RadioFreeHPC team discusses the Google/NASA paper, titled “Quantum Supremacy Using a Programmable Superconducting Processor”, that was published and then unpublished. But it’s the internet and everything is a “digital tattoo”, so there are copies out there (see below). The paper, right in its title, and… Read More »Quantum Supremacy? Yes and No!
FinTech and HPC-AI
October 01, 2019 05:41 - 13.7 MB@RadioFreeHPC Has Entered The Building First things first, you can call us @RadioFreeHPC now, thanks to our new Twitter account. We decided maybe this social media thing is not a fad after all. We are also pleased to inform you that our Twitter account is almost as heavily followed as the podcast itself. Thank you!… Read More »FinTech and HPC-AI
RFP Pro Tips
September 22, 2019 00:06 - 20.1 MBThe Dos and Donts of RFP Benchmarks In today’s show we only have Dan and Henry on deck, Shahin is away at the “HPC and AI on Wall Street” event where he’ll be hosting various panel discussions. But Dan and Henry soldier on with a discussion based on a recent, and fascinating, presentation by Tricia… Read More »RFP Pro Tips
Extreme Power and Cooling Efficiency
September 16, 2019 05:12 - 15.5 MBYes, You Can Be More Efficient! Dan is back from way Down Under bearing intellectual gifts from the recent HPC-AI Advisory Council meeting in Perth. The RadioFree HPC team drills down on one interesting presentation focused on extracting more from power and cooling systems. Take a look at the video below and the rest of… Read More »Extreme Power and Cooling Efficiency
IO500 Team Visit
September 08, 2019 02:29 - 21.6 MBIO500 Benchmark Gets Traction Storage is complicated and benchmarking it has too many complexities for the traditional kernel-like or application-specific approaches. Thanks to a few experienced and tenacious researchers, and the community that supports them, the IO500 has managed to put a credible stake in the ground, and is getting traction, with 101 entries on… Read More »IO500 Team Visit
The Hottest of Hot Chips Conference
September 01, 2019 17:50 - 22.4 MBThe 31st Hot Chips Conference Shahin reports from the Hot Chips conference with Henry and new guest Glenn Heinle, a veteran of AI, HPC, and Storage worlds and currently at Keeper Tech. The team discusses and debates the highlights of the conference and the hottest of the Hot Chips. Here are a few notes and… Read More »The Hottest of Hot Chips Conference
Coral is Cray for All
August 24, 2019 23:29 - 13.3 MBCray Pulls an Exascale Hat Trick Guess who’s having a great year? Think Aurora, Frontier, and El Capitan. Cray has put some nice numbers on the accounts receivable ledger, and these are not ordinary numbers. The Exascale era is being defined substantially by the DOE Coral program and the commercial markets are watching as their… Read More »Coral is Cray for All
AMD Victory Lap
August 21, 2019 08:57 - 17.7 MBAMD Victory Lap AMD mojo continues as it pushes Moore’s law one more time. RadioFree looks into the AMD Rome CPU, a beast that brings back the glory days of Opteron and establishes itself as the chip to have, and establishes AMD as the company to beat. New Segment: Henry Newman’s Feel-Good Security Corner Henry… Read More »AMD Victory Lap
Who will benefit from Intel dropping Omni-Path?
August 11, 2019 09:03 - 10.9 MBSpoofing the Spoofers Henry has a brilliant idea to weaponize his password generator against phishing attacks. Intel Drops Omni-Path Henry and Shahin take a close look at the history of High Performance Interconnects, recent news, and how the market is changing profoundly. The departure of Intel from this segment is good news for some, and… Read More »Who will benefit from Intel dropping Omni-Path?