Completed MATH upgrades will allow research computing expansion
Major ITaP research computing systems, including the Rossmann, Coates, Moffett and Radon clusters, are back on line following a project to upgrade the power and cooling systems for the data center in the Mathematical Sciences Building.
The upgrade project installed two new electrical transformers to handle the additional power and cooling demands of new supercomputers.
The project also provides redundant power and cooling to the data center to help avoid unscheduled outages now and in the future. An unscheduled outage at the facility can mean millions of hours of lost computing time.
“This project provides the infrastructure to support up to three additional research clusters, as well as provides additional reliability to current systems housed in this facility,” says John Campbell, associate vice president for academic technologies. Campbell heads the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, ITaP’s research computing arm.
ITaP is currently taking faculty and departmental orders for capacity in the new Hansen Community Cluster, which should be built and operational in September. To see available hardware and to order visit: https://www.rcac.purdue.edu/order/.
An outage to complete the upgrades cut electricity to the building between Aug. 5 and 17. ITaP brought the research systems back on line after power was restored and the MATH data center could be cooled sufficiently following the return to service of the center’s cooling system.
The project is funded by a $2 million National Science Foundation grant to improve Purdue’s main research data center, located in the basement of the Mathematical Sciences Building.
ITaP staff at the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing also completed maintenance to the individual cooling and networking systems for the Steele cluster, located outside MATH, and maintenance to the home directory storage system.
More information: Aug. 5-17 research computing system outage FAQ
Writer: Greg Kline, science and technology writer, Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), 765-494-8167 (office), 765-426-8545 (mobile), gkline@purdue.edu