Photos: Minister Carr launches Epic@Murdoch supercomputer
iVEC officially invites researchers to apply for access to its $5 million HP POD deployment at Murdoch University.
on Jun 8 2011 7:34PM
The $5 million Epic@Murdoch supercomputer was officially launched by Innovation Minister Kim Carr on Wednesday, after some five months’ use by ‘early adopters’.
The supercomputer is managed by supercomputing group iVEC, and located outside Murdoch University’s School of Business, IT and Law.
The HP POD deployment is housed in a single container at the university.
The 9,600-core Linux cluster comprises HP Blade servers and 500 terabytes of storage.
A screen provides real-time information about fans and the temperature within the container, which was cooled to about 19 degrees Celsius.
Monitors on each rack provide a 'health summary' of equipment.
It is far warmer outside and behind the container, where heat generated by the equipment dissipates.
The container's rear doors provide access to network and power cables.
Epic@Murdoch can perform 87.2 TeraFLOPS. It was ranked 87th on the Top500 supercomputer list in November 2010.
Epic@Murdoch is part of the Australian Government's $80 million Pawsey project, expected to support the region's bid for the international Square Kilometer Array.
Murdoch University Vice-Chancellor Gary Martin with Innovation Minister Kim Carr at the launch.
Minister Carr today said the Government made “no apology” for the investment, explaining the funds were unlikely to be provided by the private sector.
The $5 million Epic@Murdoch supercomputer was officially launched by Innovation Minister Kim Carr on Wednesday, after some five months’ use by ‘early adopters’.