Gateway

Issue date: 8/7/07 Section: People

Curt Schmitke works on constructing the rack structure that will house much of the new supercomputer at the Peter Kiewit Institute. (photo by Patrick Doty) [Click to enlarge]

The supercomputer is in the process of being built at the Peter Kiewit Institute on South Campus. Above, racks are being put together that will soon hold the computers that comprise the supercomputer. (photo by Patrick Doty) [Click to enlarge]

Computer Lab Technician Paul Downey makes adjustments on the servers that will soon be installed into the structuring of the supercomputer. (photo by Patrick Doty) [Click to enlarge]

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's UNO's newest computer - a supercomputer.

And it's fast, really fast. By the time it's completed, it will be among the largest and quickest computers in the world.

The high-performance machine will be housed in the new Holland Computing Center at the Peter Kiewit Institute. The computer will be turned on for fine-tuning in mid-August, but won't be fully operational. The center's estimated completion date is mid-September or the beginning of October.

This isn't your average computer. The innards are complex and take up about as much space as a large apartment.

"It's a high performance computing cluster system where you take large numbers of computers and you connect them all together and it works as one big unit," said Winnie Callahan, executive director of the Peter Kiewit Institute.

The supercomputer will occupy 2,000 square feet and consist of Dell computers with extremely fast and energy-efficient AMD quad-core processors. There will be 44 racks holding a number of thin, but very powerful computers.

The computers will be cooled and secured by a brand new data center, donated by American Power Conversion InfrastruXure. As of now, a total of 800 computers are being planned to make up the supercomputer.

This innovative structure will serve as APC's Midwest display center and will, when completed, be larger than comparable structures at Carnegie Melon University and Harvard Medical School, Callahan said.

"What you have the ability to do is to take this large cluster and subdivide it to be able to put appropriate power on a particular job to be able to turn it around very quickly and shoot it back to the person who is doing the research," Callahan said. "This fantastic opportunity will really put UNO on the map."

The Holland Computing Center will provide the opportunity for new classes at the College of Information Science and Technology in high performance and parallel computing, management, and security for high performance computing systems. It also opens the door for a myriad of opportunities for other colleges, Callahan said.

"There's a great deal of interest in the programs that are offered here," she said. "We've begun to get a fantastic national and international reputation at the PKI."

The computer will also provide huge opportunities in research for various companies in Omaha as well as others nationwide, she said.

The university received $4.5 million in donations for the project, most of it coming from Omahan businessman Richard Holland. Various other contributors are also responsible and will be announced in the coming weeks.

Nick Harnack, a photography major, thinks the supercomputer is right for Omaha.

"It's a smart idea for it to come to Omaha," Harnack said. "UNO is known more for its technology as opposed to Lincoln's agricultural sciences."

Callahan said that overall the Omaha community seems excited about the computer. ?"We are hoping the entire university system will benefit from it and the whole state as well. It's a tremendous opportunity for the PKI and clearly for Omaha."

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