High-performance computing (HPC) — once confined to CIA code-breaking and Pentagon war games before making inroads into large mainframe computer rooms at automotive companies — is about to become as readily available to auto designers and engineers as laptop programs. Experts in the field declare the auto industry is entering a period of profound transformation, in which HPC capabilities will be at the desk-side of those who innovate and test consumer vehicles, rather than confined to large, expensive and time-consuming centralized computer-room operations.
Demand for HPC is being driven by a combination of increased performance in processors per compute node, low acquisition price per node, and the overall price and performance of compute clusters. These trends are driving new customers to adopt HPC to replace or supplement live, physical experiments with computer-simulated modeling, tests and analysis.
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