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SDSC : A Pearl in the Cyber Ocean

© Adam Hughes

At times, surfing the Internet for information can be a little like going to a flea market to find a treasure : you're sure there's something there that will be great, but it sure is hard to find it through the junk. Oh sure, there are nifty tools available for navigating the net, like web browsers and search engines, but information overload can still be a real problem. That's why, when happen on a really useful or intriguing web site, we find ourselves double- and triple- bookmarking it, sending the URL to everyone we know (including ourselves), and writing it down on little slips of paper all over our desks. Well, if you're interested in supercomputing and/or Scientific Computing, gets your pens ready and your e-mail program popping, because you will definitely want to visit the San Diego Supercomputer Center's web site at http://www.sdsc.edu.

The San Diego Supercomputing Center (SDSC) is part of the National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure and offers a full complement of supercomputing facilities to its users. Included in this vast array of resources is a 1152 processor IBM RS/6000 SP, which they bill as the most powerful academically-available machine in the U.S. and the 10th most powerful computer globally. SDSC also provides several smaller systems for use by researchers, including Sun systems, a Compaq/Digital AlphaServer, a Tera MTA, and Cray machines. These HPC machines are served by a high- performance mass storage system (HPSS) which is the largest such installation in the world. Finally, SDSC is also home to state-of-the-art training facilities and visualization equipment (Vislab).

While the sheer enormity of SDSC's physical resources are impressive and surely some of the best in the world, a more compelling reason for visiting the web site is the great variety of research projects accessible to the surfer. Apparently, many of SDSC's users have prepared on-line documentation of how the computer resources are being utilized. The result is a collection of data and images that display the true scientific bang that modern computational techniques can offer. The web page also offers links to important conferences and , in general, is a real keeper. In the coming weeks, we'll take advantage of this wonderful resource and examine some of the fascinating computational studies highlighted by the SDSC web page.

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