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TeraGrid Swings Into High GearBy Paul ShreadOctober 14, 2004
TeraGrid's unified user support infrastructure and software environment let users access storage and information resources as well as more than a dozen major computing systems through a single allocation, either as standalone resources or as components of a distributed application using grid software capabilities. "Through the TeraGrid partnership, we have built a distributed system of unprecedented scale," said Charlie Catlett, TeraGrid project executive director and a senior fellow at the Computation Institute at Argonne National Laboratory. "This milestone is a testament to the expertise, innovation, hard work and dedication of all the TeraGrid partners. The partnership among these sites is itself an extremely valuable resource, and one that will continue to yield benefits as the TeraGrid moves into its operational phase." Through its nine resource partner sites, the TeraGrid offers advanced computational, visualization, instrumentation, and data resources. Argonne National Laboratory provides users with high-resolution rendering and remote visualization capabilities via a 1 teraflop IBM Linux cluster with parallel visualization hardware. The Center for Advanced Computing Research (CACR) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) provides online access to very large scientific data collections in astronomy and high energy physics, and application expertise in these fields, geophysics, and neutron science. Indiana University and Purdue University together contribute more than 6 teraflops of computing capability, 400 terabytes of data storage capacity, visualization resources, access to life science data sets from Indiana University's Indiana Genomics Initiative, and a connection to the Purdue Terrestrial Observatory. The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) offers 10 teraflops of capability computing through its Mercury IBM Linux cluster, which consists of 1,776 Itanium 2 processors, the largest computational resource of the TeraGrid. The system at NCSA also includes 600 terabytes of secondary storage and 2 petabytes of archival storage capacity. Also, the new SGI Altix SMP system with 1,024 Itanium 2 processors will become part of the TeraGrid. With the completion of the new Atlanta TeraGrid hub and a 10-gigabit-per-second TeraGrid connection to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), users of ORNL's neutron science facilities, such as the High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Spallation Neutron Source, will be able to utilize TeraGrid resources and services for the storage, distribution, analysis, and simulation of their experiments and data. The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), a lead computing site, provides computational power to researchers via its 3,000-processor HP AlphaServer system, TCS-1, which offers 6 teraflops of capability coupled uniquely to a 21-node visualization system. PSC also provides a 128-processor, 512-gigabyte shared-memory HP Marvel system, a 150-terabyte disk cache, and a mass-store system with a capacity of 2.4 petabytes. The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) leads the TeraGrid data and knowledge management effort by deploying a data-intensive IBM Linux cluster based on Intel Itanium family processors, with a peak performance of just over 4 teraflops and 540 terabytes of network disk storage. Also, a portion of SDSC's DataStar IBM 10-teraflop supercomputer is assigned to the TeraGrid. A tape archive that supports IBM HPSS and Sun Sam-QFS has a storage capacity of 6 petabytes and currently stores a petabyte of data. A next-generation Sun Microsystems high-end server helps provide data services. The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) offers users high-end computers capable of 6.2 teraflops, a terascale visualization system, a 2.8-petabyte mass storage system, and access to geoscience and biological morphology data collections. Through these nine sites, the TeraGrid provides 40 teraflops of computing power with petabyte-scale data storage and operates over a 40 gigabit-per-second network. Over the next several years, the collaborative TeraGrid team will enhance and expand the services offered to scientific users. Future features will include improved meta-scheduling and co-scheduling services, a global file system to facilitate the use of data at distributed sites, and "Science Gateways," including Web-based portals that provide a user-friendly interface to the TeraGrid's services and meet the unique needs of specific research communities. For more information on the TeraGrid, visit teragrid.org. MCNC Offers Grid Services to Entrepreneurs MCNC's Grid Computing and Networking Services program will provide advanced computing and data center services at no charge to start-up companies at the Technology Incubator on the Centennial Campus at N.C. State University as part of a new Start-Up Grid initiative. The Start-Up Grid pilot program is designed to provide a novel set of resources to help fledgling companies grow, creating new companies and jobs throughout North Carolina. The program will leverage the state's existing resources in a new collaborative effort to spur economic development. Beginning with access to advanced networking, high-speed Internet, data center and grid computing services at no charge during the first year for the initial phases of development of new companies, MCNC and Centennial Campus leaders are developing the Start-Up Grid's broad array of resources for entrepreneurs. The N.C. State University Technology Incubator will provide office space at a competitive rate and supporting services to start-up companies, including coordination of economic development activities from various university departments and the business community. MCNC will provide high-speed Internet service to start-up companies in the incubator through its North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). In addition, NCREN will enable companies to use the computing resources of the N.C. Statewide Grid being developed by MCNC, including free access to MCNC's Enterprise Grid high-performance computing and data services. Through the grid, the companies can also have a Web site and provide digital services to their partners and customers. The non-profit MCNC was established by the state in 1980 to be a catalyst for technology-based economic development and job creation in North Carolina. Story courtesy of Grid Computing Planet.
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