Hammer of Technology

"Haha, Mr. Ning is being polite. We, Mr. Yan, can talk about it. I can put other things aside recently and do my best to assist you in solving this matter. Therefore, the company arranged for me to recommend a suitable supercomputing center for you. I don't dare to take credit for work tasks." Zhang Yusheng said with a smile.

Either way, it's comforting to hear.

Ning Wei smiled, put the matter aside for the time being, and asked, "Mr. Zhang, where is this supercomputing center? Is it far from the school?"

"I'm just going to introduce it to you. This supercomputing center is not far from here. It's in the big data software park in Huaguan Village. It's about six or seven kilometers away from Yanbei University. It's not too far away. It's It belongs to Jingcheng Jiakai Big Data Information Service Co., Ltd., which is a private company, and the boss’s surname is Xue. He came out of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and contacted a few friends to set up the company.”

"At that time, I started this company as a response to the call of the state to get some subsidies, and secondly, I saw that small and medium-sized enterprises did have long-term needs for supercomputing and data storage in the future, and I thought that several shareholders had some resources. The business was brought in, so the center was set up. The idea is very good, but after it was really set up in early 2020, it happened that several major cloud computing platforms in China began to compete vigorously to grab the market. The price was directly knocked down and there was no way to do it. "

"The business volume and charging standards brought by some relationships can only maintain the operation of the center, and the profit is far away. Therefore, several shareholders unanimously decided to sell this supercomputing center. Because I happened to consult us at that time, so I happened to know This news." Zhang Yusheng roughly introduced.

"Oh! Do you know the specific structure of this supercomputing center?" Ning Wei asked.

"Because this supercomputing center purchased our network equipment at the beginning, it was contracted by a third-party company contracted with Huawei. At that time, I was the on-site construction guide, so I am quite clear about this. You can check the quality in all aspects. Don’t worry, for example, the integrated wiring system in the center is strictly in accordance with the requirements of the wiring level R3, and the links are redundant to ensure that the security of the wiring in the equipment room reaches the fault-tolerant level, and no single point of failure will affect the business.”

"The network design follows the two-layer flat design principle, which is divided into the core layer, aggregation layer, and access layer. The access layer has the capability of [-]G uplink and high-density Gigabit access, supports two-way access control, and The incoming data flow is marked, and the QoS control strategy for traffic is implemented step by step during the transmission process. By the way, we also upgraded the turbulence algorithm protection strategy for this data center some time ago."

"In addition, the design and construction of the computer room are strictly in accordance with GB50174-2017 "Code for Design of Electronic Information System Computer Room" and ANSI/TIA-942-A-2012 standards. The wiring system adopts MPO/MTP pre-terminated optical fiber system. It can be smoothly upgraded to 40/100Gb/s system, just need to change the adapter module, if you need to say hello to me. As for the backbone link, I dare not say that the time is too long, at least five to six years Additional upgrades are required. All network communication equipment is still within the warranty period of our company. If there is any problem, please call me and go directly to replace it.”

"By the way, this data center spent about 380 million to order DeLclima's complete cooling system for one megawatt capacity. The conditions are quite good in all aspects. The server is an array made of a high-end server launched by Inspur in 19... Sigh , has arrived."

……

Although it is not far from the school, it is the first time for Ning Wei to come to this big data park in Huaguan Village.

Zhang Yusheng parked the car in a parking lot in the park, and then made a phone call. When the two got out of the car, a middle-aged man in formal clothes was already striding towards Zhang Yusheng.

"Haha, Zhang Gong, long time no see, this is Mr. Ning, young talent, young talent! To be honest, since I met Mr. Ning on the Internet, I have long wanted to meet Mr. Ning, but I have never had the chance , I have to thank Mr. Zhang for bringing Mr. Ning to me, haha."

"Mr. Ning, this is Mr. Xue from Jiakai Big Data Information Service Company. Regarding the sale of the data center, he can make all the decisions." Zhang Yusheng immediately introduced.

"Hello, Mr. Xue."

Ning Wei nodded, and when he said hello, the other party had already stretched out his hands and tightly held Ning Wei's hand together: "Why Mr. Xue and Mr. Xue? Our academics don't like their kind How to call it. My name is Xue Changqing. In this way, how old is my age? You can just call me Lao Xue, and I will ask you to call you Xiao Ning, how about it?"

This kind of familiarity made Ning Wei feel quite strange, and he was not even used to it, but after all, he stretched out his hand not to hit the smiling face, so he could only slightly nod his head and said: "Then I will call you Lao Xue."

"Yes, yes, this is very good. Come on, Zhang Gong, Xiao Ning, let's go to the company to have a cup of tea first, and let's talk slowly."

……

"Old Xue, let's not talk about a bunch of digressions. Why don't you introduce the specific situation of the data center first, and then let's talk about the price. If the price is right, I can buy it in the near future."

Being warmly invited by Xue Changqing to the office, sitting in front of the tea set, Ning Wei said straight to the point.

The overly warm reception made him feel uncomfortable, so he simply said it directly.

After hearing this, Xue Changqing glanced at Zhang Yusheng who was beside Ning Wei, while Zhang Gong smiled and remained silent.

"Xiao Ning is straightforward, but I guess Zhang Gong should have introduced some basic information to Xiao Ning?" Xue Changqing asked.

"Mr. Xue, that is necessary. Our Mr. Yan gave me a death order to provide full service for Mr. Ning. I just know that you are also a knowledgeable person, so when the data center was built At that time, all aspects of the situation were stricter than other centers, so I specially introduced Mr. Ning, and I must disclose some basic information to Mr. Ning first, you can't be a monster." Zhang Yusheng said with a smile.

Xue Changqing nodded, and said, "Alright then, have a cup of tea first, and let me introduce the current situation of the center."

As he spoke, Xue Changqing raised his teacup.

After the three of them drank a cup of tea, Xue Changqing continued: "Our data center is currently composed of 350 CPU rack servers, 3900 KNL servers and 6000 GPU servers, and the theoretical peak value of the overall computing capacity is about 230 trillion times. The CPU server can provide 6 cores, 3 trillion services per second, and a total storage capacity of 430PB; the total computing capacity of GPU nodes is 3PFLOPS, and the computing capacity of KNL nodes is [-]TFLOPS, with a total storage capacity of [-]PB.”

"The computing network adopts the omni-path architecture, with intel, gcc and other compilers installed, the job management adopts the Slurm scheduling system, and the file system adopts the Luster distributed file system for management. All these have been debugged for a long time, and they can definitely guarantee trouble-free operation. .Telecom, China Unicom and Cernet are connected to the network, and a special channel for big data users has been opened.”

"At the beginning of the construction of this supercomputing center, our cost calculation was about 3000 million [-] million. The center has been in operation for about two years. To be honest, it is probably only enough to cover the monthly operating costs. After all, electricity, network fees, maintenance fees, The depreciation costs are huge, and I don’t know exactly what Xiao Ning wants to do with a supercomputing center, and I personally think it doesn’t make much sense if he wants to continue operating it.”

Ning Wei nodded, and the last sentence was quite sincere. He glanced at Zhang Yusheng and nodded when he saw the Huawei engineer Weibucha. He probably knew that Mr. Xue had nothing to hide. After pondering for a while, he said: "Then Mr. Xue, how much do you want to pay for this supercomputing center?"

"Oh? Xiao Ning, are you sure you want to buy it?" Xue Changqing poured another cup of tea for the three of them and asked.

Ning Wei said with a smile: "Of course, you can't bother Zhang Gong and Lao Xue to waste time drinking tea, but I don't plan to continue to operate externally after I bought it, so if the transaction is confirmed, I hope you can sell it as soon as possible. The problems of customers who purchased the service have been solved, and the data will be transferred as soon as possible, and I may do some sorting out of the platform system.”

Xue Changqing nodded and said: "It's not a big problem with the customers. I'm not going to hide it from you two. At present, most of the customers are acquaintances who take care of the business, so it won't be too difficult for us. But when it comes to the price, I don't understand. Favors, high prices are required, mainly because the data center and several shareholders are also good friends. Everyone pooled money together to start this project, and I failed to bring them to make money. Too much, so my psychological price is at least 1.9 million."

The price of 1.9 million yuan is really not beyond Ningwei's budget. He glanced at Zhang Yusheng, and Zhang Gong coughed twice: "Mr. When I settled in the industrial park, I had a three-year preferential contract, including preferential policies such as rent, electricity, and tax rebates. I remember that there were some interest-free policies. I believe that the first two years of operation are only enough to cover costs, but depreciation The fee is the big one, and with various preferential policies, it should still be profitable every year. Is this 1.9 million quotation a bit exaggerated?"

"Haha, Mr. Zhang, I also said it. I'm sorry to let a few friends lose too much. Otherwise, I can't be a man! But there is one thing, this price is sold, I can say that this project has not earned a penny. I have to pay for two years of accumulated capital costs, isn't this a lie?" Xue Changqing spread his hands and said.

The conversation between the two probably gave Ning Wei a clear idea. To put it bluntly, for Xue Changqing, the data center will continue to operate. After not enjoying various discounts, it will really not make money. Naturally, he is not in the mood to continue operating.

For him, the biggest expense is probably the electricity bill.In the future, it is only necessary to convert the supercomputing center into a large-scale computer laboratory, which will be managed by Yu Xingwei. The operating cost will be greatly reduced, and it will not be too expensive.

"Xiao Ning, what do you want to buy this supercomputing center for? Can you tell me?" Xue Changqing looked at Ning Wei and asked.

"I want to change it into a large data laboratory to verify some of my mathematical theories." Ning Wei replied.

"This is a good thing! In this case, I can't lower the price anymore, but if it is to change the laboratory, I can help you contact the management committee of the park, and you can get some support funds, electricity and rent. Such discounts can still be extended. How?" Xue Changqing looked at Ning Wei and asked.

"There is no need for support funds. It would be great if the electricity bill and rent can be discounted. Having said so much, why don't you take me to see the inside of the data center on the spot? If there is no problem, let's use this price. We signed the contract today, when will the handover be completed." Ning Wei said decisively.

These words made both Xue Changqing and Zhang Yusheng stunned.

1.9 million contract, so simple?

Of course, Ning Wei was thinking very simply. Given his current relationship with Huawei, it was impossible for Zhang Yusheng to introduce Xue Changqing to him without doing a good job of investigation. After all, offending him would not do Huawei any good.

On the other hand, negotiating a price of 2000 to [-] million is of little significance to him. Instead of fighting a tug-of-war, it is better to make arrangements for Yu Xingwei and March as soon as possible.

"If this is the case, give us half a month. I promise to complete the data migration and refund work for all customers in half a month. However, after signing the contract, Xiao Ning needs you to pay a deposit of no less than 5000 million in advance, or the acquired data The money from the center is put into the three-party supervision account to ensure that we can receive the money immediately after fulfilling the contract. If a bank loan is needed, the time should be counted from the time when the bank decides to release the loan." Xue Changqing replied after pondering.

"It's okay, I can calculate it today, I don't need a loan." Ning Wei replied.

------------

187 I really don't know!

Xue Changqing quickly took Ning Wei to his supercomputing center for a walk. Only then did Ning Wei realize that he had thought things too simply. Get an environmental impact report, and it can only be formally established after approval.

Ning Wei is also quite satisfied with the computer room itself.It can be seen that Xue Changqing really took care of the computer room. For example, the environment was partitioned. In general, no one needs to enter the core computer room. The core computer room area also uses a booster dust removal method to ensure the normal operation of the server.

Although the entire center has been in operation for two years, most of the equipment is indeed as introduced by Zhang Yusheng and Xue Changqing. It is not a big problem to use it for another five or six years. Even if the equipment needs to be updated after five or six years, it can be updated in batches. Way.

The most important thing is that it can save a lot of time, so after visiting the computer room facilities of the supercomputing center and chatting with the technicians currently maintaining the computer room, Ning Wei readily decided to sign a contract with Xue Changqing.

Apparently neither Zhang Yusheng nor Xue Changqing expected that Ning Wei would be so straightforward. While rushing to contact a lawyer to draft a contract, on the other hand, he directly reported to Mr. Yan. Huawei directly sent the legal counsel from Beijing to the Big Data Industrial Park.

I really can't go now.

At lunch, Xue Changqing stopped by and invited the leaders of the park management committee. According to him, Ning Wei had to deal with the park management committee after he bought the supercomputing center. Wei called over.

When Yu Xingwei hurried to the park by taxi and heard that Ning Wei had decided to spend 1.9 million to purchase a supercomputing center as the main body of the future computer algorithm laboratory, his emotions were so high that it could be said that gods block and kill gods, and Buddhas block and kill Buddhas.Although it is said that alcohol is not allowed at noon, but during the lunch time, I have already used tea instead of wine to get along well with several people in the management committee. I must invite a few people to continue to have a meal in the evening and have a good drink or two.

This is actually understandable. Although Yu Xingwei is now doing research and writing papers in the Institute of Mathematics every day and no one has raised any objections, Yu Xingwei is very clear that these are the preferential treatment given by the bosses for the sake of Ningwei. After all, he is not a member of Yanbei University, so he is naturally uncomfortable psychologically when he stays in other people's territory every day.Ning Weizhen wants to take down this supercomputing center, which also means that he has a real place to stay in the capital and a starting point for a big effort.

In the afternoon, there was the signing ceremony. Xue Changqing called several shareholders of the company to the company and met with Ning Wei. Under the witness of the legal counsel sent by Huawei, the two parties signed the contract.According to the contract, Ningwei gave Jiakai half a month to deal with the customer's recharge and data transfer, and half a month later, he could officially take over its supercomputing center.

Ning Wei originally planned to go back to school directly after signing the contract and transferring the money, and leave Yu Xingwei to deal with the follow-up matters, but the company's shareholders and bosses were too enthusiastic, so they kept Ning Weiqiang, and they must eat together dinner.

Ning Wei then sent Jiang Chenshuang a WeChat message, telling her not to bring food for herself, and continued to attend the dinner party.Nothing else, after a meal, basically Yu Xingwei has already started to hang shoulders with a few members of the management committee and call him brothers...

Well, this is actually quite good, it can be regarded as putting Yu Xingwei in his most suitable position.

Of course, Ning Wei also considered that it was okay to beat this senior from Jiangcheng University more, and he still had to focus more on academics. Social networking can always only be an auxiliary, not a main job.

Resolutely declined other after-dinner activities, Ning Weihe still returned to school in Zhang Yusheng's car, and had already missed the dinner with Jiang Chenshuang, Ning Wei didn't intend to continue to miss the time to listen to the piano at night.

In fact, he is similar to all the boys and girls who are in love. If you must say that Ning Wei is different from others, it is probably that he has stronger self-control and can always force himself into a state of concentration.

The car still stopped at the entrance of the research institute. Just as Ning Wei got out of the car and said goodbye to Zhang Yusheng, the phone rang. After checking the caller ID, it was from Director Tian.

Ning Wei answered the phone, and before he could speak, he asked, "Ning Wei, who is Professor Sanyue? Is it our professor from Yanbei University or Jiangcheng University?"

Ning Wei was stunned, although the fame in March was something he had planned, but it still surprised him that it reached Dao Tian's ears so quickly.

You can't say that you can stand out after reviewing three papers, right?The world of mathematics shouldn't be so superficial.Moreover, Professor Sanyue was called out from Dao Tian's mouth, which always made Ning Wei feel a little weird.

"Well, Director Tian? How did you know that there is such a person as Professor Sanyue?" Ning Wei asked cautiously.

"Just now my friend called and said two things. I don't know where the news came from. You have been appointed to win this year's Wolf Prize. Following that, many academic editors are passing that you introduced to them such a A professor of mathematics like a hermit, not only is extremely fast in reviewing manuscripts, but also has a sharp style. The mathematics circle is so big. People have already found out about me. What can I say? I can only ask you? Who is Professor March? Who is it?" Tian Yanzhen asked very quickly.

Seeing how this question was asked, Ning Wei was speechless.He didn't even say anything about Lu Dongyi about what happened in March, and Yu Xingwei kept his mouth shut. Probably no one at Yanbei University knew about it except Jiang.He didn't plan to let more people know for the time being.

Ning Wei has always thought that the mathematics circle is quite big, and those academic editors of mathematics are all masters who cherish words like gold. Who would have thought that only three manuscripts were reviewed in March, and the mathematics world began to spread the word of Professor March. s legend.

What does it mean to shoot yourself in the foot? Ning Wei thinks this is it. He is not ready to expose March, let alone announce the existence of March to the world.

"Uh, Director Tian, ​​I really have to keep this a secret for the time being. You see, I can't just make up someone to lie to you, right? But I promise, when the time is right, I will tell you her identity as soon as possible." After thinking about it Thinking about it, Ning Wei simply answered boldly.

"Isn't it because of the previous incident that you were too lazy to deal with the mathematics circle, so you made up the identity of March, but you were behind the scenes?" Director Tian asked suspiciously.

Ning Wei did not make a sound, as expected of Director Tian, ​​a random analysis is close to the truth, facing a thoughtful person, Ning Wei knows that the best way to keep a secret is to keep silent, otherwise there is nothing to say in words If there is a loophole, the other party will guess a rough idea.

"Forget it, forget it, I'm too lazy to guess about you. But let me tell you, it's not a good thing to expose that you may be the winner of this year's Wolf Award. Your nomination has indeed passed, but the review has not yet started. I don't know where this news came from, but I'm sure it has something to do with the previous rejection of the Journal of the American Mathematical Society. Strictly speaking, this is not a good thing."

"I now think that even if you really won the Wolf Award in January next year, it is not a good thing. This means that if you want to win the Fields Medal in four years, there is a high probability that you need more results. If you It will not be convincing to judge the Fields Medal based on the achievements of the Wolf Medal." Tian Yanzhen pointed out seriously.

Ning Wei felt that he had to accept this, so he said, "Director Tian, ​​is your idea a little more utilitarian. Actually, I think we should not take winning prizes as the first goal when we do research."

The other side was silent for a while, and asked: "Come on, tell me, why do you want to do research?"

Ning Wei said confidently: "Of course it is because we have a pure heart for science and the ideal of promoting scientific progress to benefit China. Therefore, winning an award is the result, not the goal. It doesn't matter if I gain it or lose it." .”

When chatting, when someone starts to make a high profile, others often feel that the conversation is difficult to answer.

For example, at this time, Tian Yanzhen was silent for several seconds before he opened his mouth and said, "Okay! Ning Wei, this is a good word, and I will remember it for you. I will not talk about whether to win an award in the future. I hope every day that you can promote scientific progress, isn't there anything wrong with that?"

"Well, a good Director Tian will live up to your expectations!" Ning Wei replied.

"Okay, I'll hang up first, work hard!" After finishing speaking, the other party hung up the phone.

Ning Wei put the phone in his pocket, and then walked into the research institute. When he came to his office, he found that the light next door was still on, so he went in to have a look, and sure enough, Lu Dongyi hadn't gone back yet.

"Senior Brother Lu, you haven't gone back yet."

"Well, I found a new topic recently, and I'm going to study it carefully." Lu Dongyi replied.

Ning Wei just remembered that yesterday when Director Tian found him as a teaching assistant, he also said that Senior Brother Lu was going to start a new research topic. He even forgot to care about it. What's the question?"

Lu Dongyi replied: "Infinite harmonic function -du^td^2udu=-∑u...=0 in r^n, n≥3 c^1, α regularity problem under high-dimensional function gradient."

Ning Wei blinked. Of course he knew the question that Senior Brother Lu said. This is a relatively famous mathematical problem in the direction of pde.

However, before he could say anything, Senior Brother Lu continued: "By the way, I heard that there is a high probability that the Wolf Award will be awarded to you this year. Do you think it is necessary to congratulate you in advance?"

Ning Wei shook his head and said, "Don't, the thing that wins an award is the most fearful thing that will be released in advance. It's never a good thing. Really, there is no sense of surprise. If you don't win, people will be disappointed. I doubt it." Whoever made such rumors is likely to want me to be happy first, and then give me a slap when the time comes."

"Ha ha……"

Lu Dongyi shook his head with a smile, and said, "You may be thinking too much this time. Director Tian and I suspect that this is a recent change of target by the mathematicians. It is a response to your speech at the stoc conference. I’ll give you a Wolf Award, and I’ll keep your mouth shut so that you won’t go around acting like a monster when you have nothing to do. So now pick this key point and spread it. So you have a great chance of winning the award.”

"Look at what you said, anyway, it doesn't matter to me whether I win the prize or not. But if I win it, I won't hold anything back." Ning Wei said after thinking about it.

"By the way, who is Professor Sanyue? I guess you didn't intend to tell me, but one thing to say, I think there is a high probability that there is no professor in China who has a major in a major but does not have a paper. Of course, March may just be a pseudonym , right? But since you want to operate this pseudonym in the mathematics world, you can publish some achievements appropriately." Lu Dongyi asked.

What he said was very cryptic. Obviously, before Tian Yanzhen called him, he actually called Lu Dongyi first, and the two had a special communication, but Ning Wei didn't say anything, but it was serious. Nodding his head, he said, "Okay, I'll go and make a suggestion to March later to see if there are any results that can be published."

After hearing Ning Wei's statement, Lu Dongyi smiled and said: "I have another idea, it may not be right, just listen to it. I think, suddenly one day, a mysterious Professor March in Huaxia It was released at the same time as the news that you may have chosen the Wolf Award by default. There is a high probability that someone wants to use two things together to completely solve the follow-up impact of your speech at the conference. So at this time, if Professor March has something before When the results are released, they may be published soon, and by the way, there will be a lot of enthusiasm.”

After listening to Lu Dongyi's explanation, Ning Wei turned his head and asked seriously: "Senior brother Lu, I just made fun of the mathematics world at the STOC conference last week, did it really have such a big impact?"

"Just a few jokes?"

Lu Dongyi swallowed, then glared at Ning Wei, who didn't know the heights of heaven and earth, and said, "Are you really ignorant or just pretending? It's because the mathematics world may not tolerate you, and through you and that princess God knows how many newspaper headlines in Europe and America, and how many TV hosts and talk show actors over there use your words to ridicule the academic world."

"Even now when the professors of the Ivy League schools are in class, they may be asked by their students about academic suppression every day. The editors of the four major mathematics journals cannot work normally for three consecutive days. The mailboxes are full every day. It is impossible to filter, because most of the emails sent are from the private mailboxes of serious students and some young scientific researchers. Yes, those emails do not come from spam mailboxes! What’s even more frightening is that there are a bunch of Western civilians who are Take you as an example to organize demonstrations in various places to protest against official academic suppression..."

"So don't tell me, you don't know the above things at all? Otherwise, why do you think someone asked Director Tian to tell you that if you have a paper recently, it will definitely be published in a limited review arrangement?"

Hearing Lu Dongyi's words, Ning Wei was extremely surprised...

"Senior Brother Lu, do you need to talk about it? I really didn't know there was so much excitement on the other side! If I knew this, wouldn't I have bought firecrackers to celebrate?"

------------

188 The correct posture for digging people

Lu Dongyi looked at his little junior brother, and really had nothing to say.Of course, there is nothing wrong with Ning Wei's statement. It perfectly proves that he is really ignorant of the turmoil in foreign mathematics circles, but he just doesn't understand common sense.

"Remind you, setting off firecrackers is prohibited within the fifth ring road of the capital." Lu Dongyi reminded.

"Senior Brother Lu, you know a lot! By the way, Chen Shuang will come over later, if you want to hear the beautiful piano sound, you can wait a little longer." Ning Wei greeted with a smile.

"Hmm. By the way, where is Yu Xingwei?" Lu Dongyi glanced at the empty table opposite and asked.

Ning Wei patted his forehead, and said: "I almost forgot, I came to see my brother to let you know that this table can be removed tomorrow. I found a good place for Brother Yu, and he won't have to come over with you from tomorrow on." Crowded together."

"Oh? Where did you arrange him?" Lu Dongyi asked curiously.