Neutron beam testing of triblades

Four IBM Triblades were tested in the Irradiation of Chips and Electronics facility at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Triblades include two dual-core Opteron processors and four PowerXCell 8i (Cell) processors. The Triblades were tested in their field configuration while running different applications, with the beam aimed at the Cell processor or the Opteron running the application. Testing focused on the Cell processors, which were tested while running five different applications and an idle condition. While neither application nor Triblade was statistically important in predicting the hazard rate, the hazard rate when the beam was aimed at the Opterons was significantly higher than when it was aimed at the Cell processors. In addition, four Cell blades (one in each Triblade) suffered voltage shorts, leading to their inoperability. The hardware tested is the same as that in the Roadrunner supercomputer.