New supercomputer standard could help solve cyber-security issues

The standard will allow the screening of billions of corporate network log entries for security

Computer scientists at the US Sandia National Laboratories have developed a new standard for rating supercomputers based on the system's ability to solve complex data problems, which it is hoped will lead to supercomputers better equipped to deal with problems such as cyber-security.

Currently, Linpack the main benchmark for supercomputers, focuses on how fast a computer can perform basic calculations - its floating point computing power - but this has little relationship to the actual problems that the machines are used for, says Rob Leland, director of Sandia's computations, computers, and maths center.

The Graph500 benchmark tests a computer's ability to analyse large volumes of linked data points. "The definition of this new competitive standard may heavily influence computer architecture for decades to come," says Leland.

The next generation of supercomputers will be dealing with eye-bulging volumes of data - think exabits, says Sandia researcher Richard Murphy.

That means the chief challenge facing architects will be moving data around, not just simple computations, says Murphy. Unlike a typical computation-oriented application, large-data analysis - such as scouring billions of corporate network log entries for security - often involves searching large, sparse datasets performing very simple computational operations.

"In short, we're going to have to rethink how we build computers to solve these problems, and the Graph500 is meant as an early stake in the ground for these application requirements," said Murphy.