Data Intensive Computing Pilot Program
NERSC is launching a new Data Intensive Computing Pilot Program to support data intensive science. DOE funded researchers (and those whose work is within the DOE mission) may apply for resources in this program for a period of 18 months to investigate new data methods. Successful applicants will be awarded access to one or more of the following resources:
- Up to 1 PB of Storage ( up to 200 TB of Project Disk Storage and 800 TB of Archival Storage)
- Up to 20 million core hours on the Carver InfiniBand Cluster (30 million NERSC MPP hours)
- Priority access to a Hadoop cluster
- Reserved access to a 6 TB/15 GB/s Flash file system
- Priority access to a 1 TB memory node on Carver
- Science Gateways for providing access to data and results through the web
- Access to Relational and Schema-less databases
If applicants need assistance with tuning their local network infrastructure to more effectively move data in and out of NERSC, ESnet maintains a comprehensive knowledge base (http://fasterdata.es.net/) that includes user-friendly resources for improving data transfer performance.
The deadline to apply was April 20, 2012.
The pace of data-driven scientific discovery is growing rapidly in genomics, astronomy, nuclear physics, and many other areas of science. New instruments and detectors are generating data at staggering rates and scientists are struggling to marshal sufficient resources to analyze the output. This new NERSC effort is aimed at addressing this situation.
While all applications will be considered, NERSC is particularly interested in supporting experimentally driven projects that are generating data at a rate that outpaces their ability to analyze it. Applicants should describe how they will make use of these unique resources and how access to these capabilities will advance their scientific progress.
NERSC will assign a staff member to support each approved project. This staff member will assist in porting applications to the NERSC environment, provide expert advice, and act as an advocate for the project within NERSC.
Successful applicants will be required to provide quarterly reports detailing their progress and any scientific advancements made as a result of the award. An underlying objective of this pilot program is to demonstrate the level of impact and scientific breakthroughs that are made possible when scientists have access to these types of innovative systems and services.
