NCAR to join TeraGrid

Researchers who have received computing grants from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) can also use the powerful computing resources at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

The NCAR plans to make 4.5 million processor hours of a 2048-processor BlueGene/L system available to researchers who use TeraGrid, a comprehensive infrastructure for open scientific research.

As part of the operational integration of TeraGrid with the BlueGene/L system, engineers set up connections to NCAR’s data storage systems and merged the local resource accounting system with the TeraGrid. The TeraGrid has more than 250 teraflops of computing capability and more than 30 petabytes of online and archival data storage.

NCAR has also tested systems and services on the TeraGrid, such as a remote data visualisation capability based on the VAPOR tool, an open source application developed by NCAR, the University of California, Davis, and Ohio State University.

This latest BlueGene/L system is the second to be integrated into the TeraGrid, joining the San Diego Supercomputer Center’s 6,144 processor system.