Watson Super computer Sample Essay

Introduction

            Super computing technology is comprised of supercomputers, which are the world’s fastest computers at the time of writing. In order to function, supercomputers must have interconnects, I/O systems, memory, and processing cores. Supercomputers, in contrast to regular computers, make use of more than one central processing unit (CPU). These CPUs are joined together into compute nodes, which are made up of a processor or a group of processors (symmetric multiprocessing (SMP)) and a memory block, depending on the configuration. A supercomputer may have tens of thousands of nodes when operating at large scale. These nodes may work together to solve a particular issue since they have the ability to communicate with one another via an interconnect. Nodes also interface with I/O systems, such as data storage and networking, via the usage of interconnects. It is important to highlight that, due to the high power consumption of current supercomputers, data centers need cooling systems as well as enough space to accommodate everything.

            A supercomputer developed by IBM, Watson is a ‘question answering’ system that combines artificial intelligence (AI) with predictive analytical software to perform a variety of tasks. Watson, named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, is a cognitive technology that can comprehend, reason, and think in the same way as humans do. With Watson, one may analyze, visualize, and understand data (of any form) while also determining meanings and trends by asking queries in natural language that are meant to be answered by Watson. Watson can make recommendations based on a person’s emotions, and it does so by using artificial intelligence technologies like as machine learning, which increases the amount of subject matter in systems and is capable of having a conversation. Watson’s cooperation between humans and technology has been instrumental in helping numerous sectors, including healthcare, government, transportation, finance, entertainment, and retail, discover solutions to some of the most difficult problems they have encountered in the past. To arrive at the best possible response, Watson consults 90 servers containing more than 200 million pages of information, which are fed by data scientists and fed with six million logic rules.IBM’s Watson, which is a cognitive technology that allows one to think like a person, may assist in making judgments in a variety of fields, including legal and healthcare studies.

Features in Services and Products

            Developers may incorporate cognitive capabilities into their services or products using the Watson API, vision, voice, and its language. Also available to them is an all-in-one kit that contains example boilerplate code, auxiliary libraries, and a sample application that will guide them through the process of developing a cognitive application from the ground up. Sample codes may also be utilized for the development of the cognitive application, which will eventually consist of a number of services that are often used. Watson’s solutions may be used to examine answers and applications in order to get relevant insights into a situation. Customers may contact the Watson Virtual Agent at any time and get instant and personalised assistance from a Watson representative. It is possible to utilize the Watson explorer as a cloud-based system that analyzes material, provides insights, and provides additional solutions in order to get better outcomes. Watson uses deep learning technology to deliver medical picture databases to physicians’ offices, allowing them to diagnose illnesses more quickly and accurately.

Processing power

            A cluster of 90 IBM POWER 750 servers, which are connected together to act as a single unit, is at the heart of the Watson computer, which was developed by IBM. It was determined that the servers, which are organized in ten racks, would be able to provide strong and huge parallelism to the complicated tasks that Watson would be conducting. In the Power7processor, one such feature is referred to as Intelligent Threads, which is short for “intelligent threads.” Because of this technology, processing threads may change in their execution dynamically in response to the present workload of the computer. Consequently, since more jobs are executed in parallel, the Power7 is able to give a higher overall capacity of processing power.. Watson will significantly profit from such an architectural design since, in addition to correctness of the question/answer, speed is also of equal significance in such a design. A question on Jeopardy will need Watson to provide an answer in around three seconds in order to compete with the best players in the world. Each POWER 750 server has four processor sockets, each of which has four Power7 processors with four threads per core and four processor sockets per server. Watson is capable of operating 2880 processor cores at a pace of 80 trillion teraflops per second when all of these factors are taken into consideration. POWER 750 servers and Power7 processors are available for purchase from IBM for the general public, however the true capability of Watson is derived from the combined computing power of all ninety servers clustered together. The prices of the supercomputer have been greatly lowered as a result of the fact that the gear was not specially designed with Watson as its main function. Watson’s highly powerful hardware allows him to process a query in milliseconds, which is something that no other computer on the planet can currently do. The adaptability of these POWER7 systems was a primary consideration when they were designed. They are capable of handling standard on-line retail transactions, business analytics, data warehousing, and a variety of other tasks. As a result, POWER7 systems are the most adaptable and powerful systems available anywhere in the world, capable of operating in a wide range of conditions. Power7 CPUs and Series 750 servers are extensively utilized in corporations, colleges, and other research institutions all over the globe today, and they have a long history of success. Because of their powerful design and energy efficiency, they are able to provide far more cost-effective computing than other processors, which are unable to provide this same combination. To battle cancer, researchers and students at Rice University in Houston are using IBM’s most recent technological advances. These algorithms are being used to search for patterns in incredibly vast sets of data, which may one day lead to the discovery of cancer cures or the development of new treatments.

Memory and Storage

            The Power7 CPUs and Watson are joined by fast memory, and there is enough of it, in order to harness all of their potential. Watson needs a total of sixteen terabytes of RAM and around twenty-one terabytes of storage to function efficiently. Despite the fact that Watson has a massive storage capacity, the system requires around one terabyte of data in order to construct its Jeopardy answer. Watson derives the vast majority of its material from previously published texts, such as encyclopedias, essays, and news stories on current events. This is because Watson, like his opponents, does not have access to the internet, which explains why he cannot compete. Additionally, researchers discovered that, even with internet connection, constructing a question to ask a search engine would be more challenging than just reading through published writings on a computer. Similarly to the processors, bothmemory and processors are housed inside the cluster of ninety Series 750 servers. Researchers at IBM have discovered that the memory component of the system is just as critical to Watson as the processors themselves. No matter how much computer power you have, you will not be able to create effective and accurate outcomes unless you have a memory system that is efficient and compelling.

Memory architecture of Watson’s computer is comprised of an optimal combination of main memory and many tiers of cache memory. The design is capable of spreading workloads in a manner that evenly distributes the burden over all Power7 processor cores, resulting in more efficient computation. Watson’s memory has the whole data set, which allows him to respond to Jeopardy questions in less than three seconds, thanks to his rapid thinking. Because disk I/O is the slowest activity done by all computers, developers have devised a solution to this problem by keeping all of the data that Watson would need in memory throughout operation. The retrieval of information becomes exceedingly quick and efficient in this manner. It is estimated that each of Watson’s processors has a bandwidth of 500 GB/s, which is approximately comparable to the production of one million books each second. The complete cluster that powers Watson is capable of bandwidth rates of about 180,000 gigabits per second (GB/s). It will not be enough for the supercomputer to confront the best in a game of Jeopardy and come out on top, even if it has tremendous processing power. It will need yet another remarkable idea, this time in the field of software development, to do this. DeepQA is the name of the program, and it will work with Watson’s hardware to push artificial intelligence to new heights.

Power consumption

            Obviously, a powerful processor and system such as the Power7 series, which is used to run Watson, would use a tremendous amount of energy. The experts have devised ingenious methods to handle the power-hungry technology while also ensuring that no energy is lost in the process. It is possible for the Power7 system to power on and off various sections of the system, as well as to modify CPU clock rates up and down, in order to save energy and save money on electricity. [2] A self-adjusting system, which takes into account the tasks that must be performed by the system as well as the present temperature conditions in the room, may be configured to use less energy while not interfering with any calculation. In addition, IBM’s Power7 systems are the first four-processor servers to be certified as “energy star” by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Energy star is a government-sponsored program in the United States that assesses the power usage of almost all electronic devices in the country, including computers and servers, according to their efficiency.

Codes

            It is necessary to develop new algorithms that take advantage of the inherent strengths of new computer architectures such as Watson’s, specifically the high intensity of compute operations available for data that is kept in the local area, in order to realize the full potential of new computer architectures such as Watson’s. For next-generation simulation programs, this is achieved by the use of high-order (i.e., compute-intensive) algorithms, which maximize the amount of processing done for each item of data that is retrieved from memory. Combining next-generation high-order algorithms with the computing power of Watson will herald in a new era in multiphysics simulations. Until very recently, a double-check on commonly used 2D approximations was often performed using computationally expensive 3-dimensional simulations, which was a significant drawback. Three-dimensional simulations were only utilized seldom because the time it took to obtain a solution was too long for them to be used as a practical, daily design tool on a regular basis. Watson is capable of processing these essential 3D simulations up to ten times quicker than prior generations, enabling weapon designers to employ 3D simulations on a far larger number of weapons designs than ever before.

            An example simulation carried out using the watson super computer, demonstrates hydrodynamic instability of two fluids mixing in a spherical geometry. It took less than three days to complete the simulation, which would have taken more than a month on earlier systems. This was accomplished by using the full potential of watson and engaging an astounding 98 billion cells. Despite this, the nature of 3D is such that the software must wait for exascale computation before transitioning from ordinary 2D simulation to routine 3D simulation.

Conclusion

            Watson, it is undeniably obvious, is the outcome of an outstanding feat of engineering on the part of the IBM team that was responsible for developing the supercomputer. It is a huge stride forward for Artificial Intelligence to be able to compete against the finest competitors on Jeopardy and come out on top. All of the research that was done in order to make Watson a reality may be used to future computing initiatives in order to create an even better and smarter supercomputer in the future. We can live healthier and safer lives as a result of the many opportunities to incorporate Watson into our culture.