Issues

Browse our previous issues below, or browse and search for specific features or analysis & opinion.

All our articles, news, product announcements and more are available from the navigation at the top of the site (accessible via the menu button for smartphone or tablet).

Access is free when subscribed and logged in.

Energy efficient supercomputing

1 October 2016

The Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) is driving the development of new energy-efficient practices for HPC, as Robert Roe discovers

Feature

Facing a formidable challenge

1 October 2016

Turning data into scientific insight is not a straightforward matter, writes Sophia Ktori

Feature

William Payne investigates the growing trend of using modular HPC, built on industry standard hardware and software, to support users across a range of both existing and emerging application areas

Feature

Unlocking Cosmology

1 October 2016

Gemma Church finds out how astronomers are using simulations to investigate the extremities of our universe

Feature

Advancing automotive simulation

1 October 2016

Robert Roe looks at developments in crash testing simulation – including larger, more intricate simulations, the use of optimisation software, and the development of new methodologies through collaboration between ISVs, commercial companies, and research organisations

August/September 2016

Feature

Everybody dreams of faster applications, but …

1 August 2016

Andrew Jones explores the barriers and solutions to accelerating application performance

Feature

Additive manufacturing for all

1 August 2016

Gemma Church investigates the applications and issues of moving additive manufacturing into the mainstream

Feature

Accelerating life science research

1 August 2016

The application of high-performance computing could have far-reaching implications for bioinformatics and life sciences researchers, as Robert Roe discovers

Feature

Data dissection

1 August 2016

Developments in bioinformatics are putting pressure on those tasked with data analysis and interpretation, writes Sophia Ktori

Feature

Providing an HPC blueprint

1 August 2016

Robert Roe discovers that the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) is laying the foundation for application-driven HPC – through a programme of training, education and hardware procurement

Feature

Memories of the future

1 August 2016

Robert Roe investigates developments in memory technology aimed at the next generation of HPC applications

June/July 2016

Feature

Speeding up the storage stack

13 June 2016

Robert Roe discusses the merits of the latest storage technologies, including a push by storage providers to develop end-to-end platforms featuring intelligent data management systems

Feature

Creating balance in HPC

13 June 2016

Robert Roe investigates the motivation behind the architectural changes to Europes fastest supercomputer, Piz Daint, housed at the Swiss National Computing Centre

Feature

A question of confidence

13 June 2016

Sophia Ktori investigates the use of informatics software to increase data integrity in the laboratory

Feature

Promoting freedom of choice in HPC

13 June 2016

As AMD launches its latest FirePro GPU, Robert Roe investigates a new suite of open-source tools, released by the company that convert code from CUDA into C++

Feature

Meeting Czechs all the HPC boxes

13 June 2016

Tim Gillett reports from PRACEDays 2016, held in May in the city of Prague

Feature

Speeding up the storage stack

1 June 2016

Robert Roe discusses the merits of the latest storage technologies, including a push by storage providers to develop end-to-end platforms featuring intelligent data management systems

Feature

Creating balance in HPC

1 June 2016

Robert Roe investigates the motivation behind the architectural changes to Europe’s fastest supercomputer, Piz Daint, housed at the Swiss National Computing Centre

April/May 2016

Feature

Keeping ideology out of the equation

27 May 2016

Is the debate on open-source vs. proprietary software for scientific computing just irrelevant ideology? Andrew Jones investigates

Feature

Managing the complexity of molecular diagnostics

27 May 2016

Sophia Ktori profiles UniConnect, a specialist provider of informatics software for use in molecular diagnostics

Feature

Intelligent interconnects

1 April 2016

Robert Roe looks at how interconnect technology is helping to change the landscape of high-performance computing

February/March 2016

Feature

Data security in a collaborative environment

16 February 2016

The R&D sector is increasingly turning to collaborative, partnered and outsourced projects to boost innovation, reduce costs and help expedite development, writes Sophia Ktori

Feature

How is life different in the cloud?

16 February 2016

In her second article on cloud computing, Sophia Ktori looks at how both vendors and customers of informatics systems are having to change their IT culture

Feature

Change bursts from the HPC crystal ball

16 February 2016

Andrew Jones looks ahead at what 2016 has in store for HPC and finds people, not technology, to be the most important issue

Feature

HPC finally climbs into the cloud

16 February 2016

After a shaky start, interest in migrating HPC to the cloud is growing rapidly. Tom Wilkie reports

Feature

Where to put a wind farm

16 February 2016

Gemma Church finds out how simulation software aids and optimises the decisions behind siting a wind farm

Feature

Revving up knowledge through simulation

16 February 2016

In the high-octane world of motorbike racing, a balance between simulation and physical testing can be crucial to improved performance, writes Robert Roe

Interview

Taking drug development into the virtual world

16 February 2016

In her series of profiles of bioinformatics companies, Sophia Ktori looks at the work of biosimulation specialist, Certara

Interview

Telling data's story

16 February 2016

Gemma Church talks to data visualisation company Golden Software about three decades in business, Microsoft bugs and working in the geoscience arena

December 2015/January 2016

Feature

Life in the cloud

14 January 2016

In the first of two articles about informatics software as a service, Sophia Ktori looks at the motivations for transferring to the cloud

Feature

A quantum leap in processors?

14 January 2016

Adrian Giordani reports on progress in quantum computing and carbon nanotubes, but finds their commercial application still lies some way in the future

Feature

The king is dead, long live the king

14 January 2016

Robert Roe finds that upgrading legacy HPC systems is a complicated business, and that some obvious solutions may not be the best options

Feature

Rise of the machines

14 January 2016

Gemma Church investigates how simulation software models the equipment used in the oil and gas industry

Interview

Bridging the language divide

14 January 2016

Sophia Ktori continues her profiles of informatics companies by looking at how BSSN is pioneering data standardisation

Interview

The changing face of CAE

14 January 2016

Gemma Church talks to engineering simulation company Altair about how Computer Aided Engineering has become mainstream

Interview

Is engineer by objective the future for simulation?

14 January 2016

Gemma Church profiles engineering simulation provider Noesis Solutions on how it is transforming designs into benchmark products and getting it right first time

Interview

Simulation apps for everyone

14 January 2016

In her profile of simulation software company Comsol, Gemma Church hears about creating modelling applications to further the reach of multiphysics simulation

October/November 2015

Feature

Is the informatics sector ready for QbD?

9 November 2015

Sophia Ktori looks at how process analytic technologies can make quality by design a reality

Feature

Skies not yet clear for scientific cloud computing

9 November 2015

Big data and cloud computing are thriving in commerce and business, but scientific and engineering applications appear to be lagging behind, Tom Wilkie discovers

Feature

Transforming discovery through integrated, comprehensive data management

9 November 2015

Dan Bedard describes the progress that the integrated Rule-Oriented Data System is making in removing the data management roadblocks that inhibit the wider research use of data

Feature

Next-generation software: who will write it?

9 November 2015

Robert Roe finds that software scalability and portability may be more important even than energy efficiency to the future of HPC

Feature

Cloud drives simulation and collaboration

9 November 2015

At the European Altair Technology conference, Robert Roe heard that new tools for simulation and cloud technology are driving innovation within modelling and simulation

Feature

Optimisation: Re-invigorating smoke stack industries

9 November 2015

Robert Roe investigates the use of optimisation software in modelling and simulation and its power to re-invigorate traditional manufacturing methods

Interview

The cutting Edge of data management

9 November 2015

In her profile of The Edge Software Consultancy, Sophia Ktori discusses how the company is expanding its portfolio to address the challenges of data analytics as well as data management

Interview

Managing resources in the cloud

9 November 2015

Sophia Ktori continues her series profiling informatics companies by looking at how GoInformatics offers software as a service over the cloud

Interview

The social engineering network

9 November 2015

Company profile: Gemma Church talks to engineering software house Esteco about simulations evolving into strategic decisions for companies and creating a social network for engineers

HPC 2015-16

Feature

How to make HPC happen in Europe

2 November 2015

Leonardo Flores AÃ±over and Augusto BurgueÃ±o Arjona from the European Commission discuss how and why Europe should play a leading role globally in HPC

Feature

Software critical to HPCs future

2 November 2015

Robert Roe discusses the trends that will shape high-performance computing over the coming years

Feature

HPC evolves from the commodity cluster

2 November 2015

Robert Roe surveys the processor market that underlies the next generation of HPC systems

Feature

Computing Canadas future

2 November 2015

Mark Dietrich outlines how Canada is building a digital infrastructure to transform the country from an economy based on natural resources to a knowledge-based economy

Feature

Solutions not just technology

2 November 2015

Companies, from integrators to high-end suppliers, are all focused on the customer, as Tom Wilkie discovers in a survey of the marketplace for HPC systems

August/September 2015

Feature

A portable data format for laboratory data

25 August 2015

Wolfgang Colsman and Rachel Uphill describe the work of Allotrope Foundation in harmonising laboratory data formats

Feature

An open invitation to work on the worlds fastest computer

25 August 2015

In conversation with Tom Wilkie, the deputy designer of Tianhe-2 spoke warmly of the benefits of peaceful and open international cooperation in using supercomputers for science

Feature

Chinese Government kicks commercial companies overseas

25 August 2015

Tom Wilkie reports on how Chinas commercial supercomputer manufacturers are seeking export markets with the support of their Government

Feature

The new realism: software runs slowly on supercomputers

25 August 2015

No supercomputer runs real applications faster than five percent of its design speed. Robert Roe and Tom Wilkie report on recalibrating expectations of exascale and on efforts to tune software to run faster

Feature

Lives and money depend on big data and the cloud

25 August 2015

Tom Wilkie looks at some issues of life and death that will be discussed at the forthcoming ISC Cloud and Big Data conference in Frankfurt

Feature

Cloud computing powers the profitability of wind

25 August 2015

The wind energy industry is increasingly looking to the cloud and to modelling and simulation to solve its engineering problems, as Gemma Church reports

Interview

Making lighter work of heavy data

25 August 2015

Continuing her company profiles, Sophia Ktori finds that Waters NuGenesis is differentiated because it can capture data from any instrument in the laboratory

Interview

The silver bullet for engineering simulation?

25 August 2015

In the first of a new series of company profiles, Gemma Church investigates how CD-adapco is helping engineers to collaborate and move complex simulations into the design phase

Interview

Simulating one step at a time

25 August 2015

Maplesoft has expanded beyond symbolic computing to mathematical modelling and simulation, as Gemma Church reports in the second of her series of company profiles

Feature

China: not one but two 100 Petaflop machines within a year?

25 August 2015

Although the Long March is a cornerstone of Chinas contemporary history, Tom Wilkie finds that the countrys march to supercomputing dominance could be short and fast

June/July 2015

Feature

Delivering data for environmental protection

7 July 2015

Colin Gray explains how the Scottish Environment Protection Agency used an informatics hub to integrate its data and move towards an evidence-based approach

Feature

Parallel programs need new maths

7 July 2015

From the PRACEdays15 conference in Dublin, Tom Wilkie and Robert Roe report on the inadequacies of Open Source and commercial software, support for Irish industry, and HPC policies in Europe and Japan

Feature

How do you measure a supercomputer's speed?

7 July 2015

Adrian Giordani asks what benchmarks should be applied as the nature of supercomputing changes on the way to exascale

Feature

Cool ways to save energy

7 July 2015

Tom Wilkie admires the ingenuity of the engineers who are devising so many ways to keep supercomputers cool

Feature

Software softens energy demands

7 July 2015

Software approaches to energy efficiency in HPC may yield unexpected improvements in the hardware of next-generation mobile phone networks, Tom Wilkie discovers