Chapter 296: Order Reached (Part 1)

This unassuming basement was actually the laboratory for the Asia Star series of supercomputers.

Sun Cheng subconsciously swept his gaze around the laboratory, feeling somewhat surprised.

This was the Asia Star project laboratory, after all; although this model of supercomputer was only publicly announced by the Nandu Supercomputing Center in the year 2010, and only the 1 and 2 models had been showcased to the outside world thus far.

Yet, as China's first attempt at a product aimed at the commercial market, the Asia Star supercomputer, while not the best in terms of performance, was widely acknowledged today as one of the more energy-efficient supercomputers with the lowest maintenance costs.

The reason he had looked at Zheng Jun in a new light just now was precisely because the Asia Star model of supercomputer did indeed have its merits, or rather, the pursuit by Zheng Jun and his team of pushing supercomputers into the market coincided with Sun Cheng's own intentions.

In his view, while it was true that a supercomputer was a vital national asset, leaving it on the shelf rather than actively promoting its application was undoubtedly a serious waste of resources.

The Asia Star series of supercomputers, which had garnered global attention, were created right here in this unassuming laboratory; this was truly a difficult thing to fathom.

However, after sweeping his gaze around, he nodded inwardly without changing his expression; this place was not simple.

The laboratory space was not large, measuring only about sixty or seventy square meters.

After entering the door, just a few steps away were several rows of neatly arranged work areas; Sun Cheng had just taken a rough glance, and there were exactly 36 desks, not one more or less, on which not only were various desktop and laptop computers for work placed, but on many of the desks, one could even see somewhat cluttered books and documents.

The work area was concentrated in the center of the laboratory, and the wall in front was mostly covered by three huge screens; the screens on the left and right sides each displayed dense, independently monitored camera feeds, which, if nothing went wrong, should be filming the Asia Star server room, while the huge screen in the middle displayed sets of data: "Temperature xx, humidity xx, motherboard check... CPU temperature..."

The two side walls of the laboratory were replaced by two huge transparent glass walls, each with a small door, and through the transparent glass, one could clearly see another huge space surrounding the laboratory, where cabinet-style processors and equipment boxes unique to supercomputers were arranged neatly.

If nothing went wrong, that should be the Asia Star series of supercomputers.

After the group walked into the laboratory one after another, a crowd of people in white coats immediately surrounded Sun Cheng, circle after circle.

Shen Peiyuan and Xu Chun were left out in the cold, but they were tactful; knowing that they were not the protagonists today, they had proactively kept some distance from Sun Cheng before even entering the laboratory.

"This young comrade is President Sun, right..."

An elderly man who looked to be about fifty or sixty years old, with somewhat graying hair, was the first to walk up to Sun Cheng; he took the initiative to reach out and shake Sun Cheng's hand, his face full of smiles: "Director Zheng brought a brand-new DRAM device over for testing earlier, saying it was a product from your company. Today's young people are truly remarkable; the quality is not a whit inferior to those from abroad..."

Sun Cheng raised his eyebrows; he always felt there was more to these words than met the ear.

Previously, he had used Shen Peiyuan to donate two 50T memory storage devices to the Supercomputing Center, and both the specifications and the external interface technology were strictly made according to the equipment standards of the supercomputer.

Although he did not apply much technology from Cybertron, the hard drive manufacturing technology he brought back from the other world originally came from the hands of Decepticon Workers, and coupled with the fact that it was manufactured using a D Printer, both the technology and quality far exceeded all DRAM devices currently on the market in the real world.

Sun Cheng believed that as long as the Supercomputing Center tested it, it would not be difficult to discover its excellence.

The data read speed was increased by 60%, while the power consumption was maintained at a level even lower than the 10T storage devices on the market.

However, he quickly realized the situation.

Even if the other party had truly tested the equipment he had forwarded, they were likely still doubting whether a domestic start-up company with no reputation at all truly possessed the strength to produce such world-class DRAM.

Although he knew this was a doubt that every company would experience at its inception, Sun Cheng still felt somewhat unhappy.

He could see that while Shen Peiyuan's status as the president of Nanjing University of Technology could indeed find connections at the Supercomputing Center, it was one thing for people to give him face, but quite another for them to actually buy into it; this was not hard to see from Zheng Jun's attitude just now.

These thoughts flashed through his mind, and after realizing this, he knew it was time for him to show his worth.

At that moment, not a hint of stage fright could be seen on Sun Cheng's face as he looked directly at the gray-haired old man in front of him and said: "Yes, the storage equipment I entrusted President Shen to forward to your Supercomputing Center a while ago is indeed a product of our Cybertron Technology Company!"

"I don't know how to address you, sir, but I believe many people present here, just like you, sir, must have doubts in their hearts. How could a domestic enterprise that is unknown to the public, and a start-up at that, be capable of manufacturing world-class DRAM equipment?"

"I understand having such doubts; after all, although our country's semiconductor industry did not start much later than foreign countries, our foundation is much worse than that of Europe and America, so there is still a generational gap in our level compared to Europe and America to this day!"

Not only did the gaze of Zheng Jun, who was standing to the side, change slightly as he looked at him, but the gray-haired old man in front of him was also very frank: "Indeed, President Sun, please understand, we did perform a teardown inspection on the equipment you sent to check for sanding marks..."

What are sanding marks?

It means taking European or American semiconductor products bought from overseas, using sandpaper to grind off the surface logos of their products, and then disguising them slightly to pass them off as one's own products to fool people.

Do not think this behavior is very ridiculous; a few years ago, there really was such a 'great talent' in the country who took a chip produced by the American communication chip manufacturer Broadcom and claimed to the outside world that it was a national chip manufactured by his own team, using it to swindle and bluff, not only defrauding the government of considerable policy support, but it was also said that banks in Shencheng and domestic venture capital firms that had just started at the time were defrauded of investments as high as hundreds of millions, attracting attention both at home and abroad for a time.

From this, it can be seen that the more high-end an industry appears to outsiders, the easier it is for people to be deceived when crooked paths are taken.

Sun Cheng was a student in the Department of Microelectronics at Nanjing University of Technology; how could he not know about this infamous 'National Chip Incident'?

He smiled calmly and did not comment on the caution of the Supercomputing Center, but instead lifted the metal briefcase he had brought.

"Caution is necessary, but please do not think that because of the temporary backwardness of our country, we will always be backward. Here is the latest type of DRAM equipment I brought for the supercomputer; please feel free to test it!"