On 10 April 2000, a team of IBM engineers arrived in the NCAR Computer Room to upgrade SCD's IBM RS/6000 test machine, babyblue. Working fast and efficiently, they replaced 16 Winterhawk I computational nodes (two processors each) with 16 Winterhawk II nodes (four processors each). The upgrade increases babyblue's compute power to a theoretical peak performance rate of 48 gigaflops.

SCD uses babyblue to test and evaluate the latest software and hardware from IBM (for instance, Fortran compilers, operating systems, switches, and nodes). After testing, optimum configurations are cloned onto the larger RS/6000 machine, blackforest. Thus, babyblue has received the first new Winterhawk II nodes; after shakedown, WH II nodes will be installed on blackforest.

Although used by SCD for testing and evaluation, babyblue is is also available to all blackforest users (at no charge) for both interactive and batch work whenever it is not in test mode. Users are encouraged to use babyblue as a porting, development, and debugging platform; its queueing and maximum time-limit policy is conducive to these tasks.

For more information about babyblue and its usage policy, see the babyblue home page.