The present super computer of C-DAC, Param Padma, has a capacity of one teraflop. Asked whether it will be another supercomputer, S Ramkrishna, director-general of C-DAC refused to say so, terming it a “capacity building measure”. He maintained that it was an effort to add the computing capacity that will finally benefit the end users. “It is an incremental approach. It is just a foundation phase and the areas of application will be atmospheric science, bio-informatics, material science and fluid dynamics,” he said. Ramakrishnan was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a symposium arranged by C-DAC on ‘Genes to Drugs: In-silico approaches.’
“The government has approved the project of ‘capacity building’ recently and the funding will start soon,” he said. The ‘capacity building’ process will also boost the GARUDA grid. Presently, the GARUDA grid has connected 17 cities and 45 institutions in the country. Through this grid, these institutions can share their research and communicate easily. “With added capacity, more institutions can be connected,” said Ramakrishnan.
“C-DAC will be looking more at the application side of this project as it is important that the system should benefit the end users,” he said. “We are aware that in case of supercomputing power, we are below the benchmark according to international standards. But there is no point in building capacity unless there is a possibility that it could be translated into specific applications,” he added.