The NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming opens its doors today, unleashing a powerful supercomputer on an ambitious agenda of experiments that will improve predictions of earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes.
The NCAR center is home to Yellowstone, a new 1.5-petaflop IBM supercomputer – enough power to place among the world’s top 20 supercomputers. The main components consist of a massive central file and data storage system, a high performance computational cluster, and a system for visualizing the data.
“This center will help transform our understanding of the natural world in ways that offer enormous benefits to society,” says Thomas Bogdan, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which manages NCAR on behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF). “Whether it’s better understanding tornadoes and hurricanes, or deciphering the forces that lead to geomagnetic storms, the Yellowstone supercomputer and the NWSC will lead to improved forecasts and better protection for the public and our economy.”
10-Foot Raised Floor
The facility will include 24,000 square feet of raised floor data center space, with a 10-foot raised floor and 9-foot ceiling plenum to manage airflow required to cool the IT gear.
The design and construction of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center has been developed to be “future proofed,” providing the flexibility to expand to adapt to new supercomputing technology as it evolves.
Located in Cheyenne’s North Range Business Park, the 153,000-square-foot data center will provide advanced computing services to scientists across the United States. Most researchers will interact with the center remotely, via a laptop or desktop computer and the Internet.
The NCAR facility was awarded a LEED Gold certification for its sustainable design. The center takes full advantage of Cheyenne’s elevation and cool, dry climate, which allows the use of fresh air to cool the servers year round, significantly reducing the facility’s energy use.
