The ISCR Program at CRS4 provides computing facilities and related services in support of research, as follows:

    * An High Performance Computing Cluster Service
    * Centrally managed services to provide computing resources to members of the research center
    * A wide range of support services for institutional and individually owned facilities
    * Advice and consultancy services including a Help Desk for the centrally managed facilities
    * Networks, electronic mail and authentication

High Performance Computing

Using cluster-based systems, researchers are able to take advantage of parallel computing applications to perform time- or data-intensive simulations not previously possible. High-performance computing (HPC) is enabling researchers to address complex problems in nearly all disciplines — from science and engineering to humanities and education — that have a direct bearing on society and the quality of life.

Having the appropriate site for hosting the cluster is also a consideration. Large, multinode clusters need sufficient network, bandwidth, and security, along with significant amounts of cooling and electrical infrastructure in order to operate.

Recognizing the need for an affordable cluster support service, CRS4 developed a scientific cluster support program that has been running successfully since 2003. The service has proven to be very effective and popular with researchers; the ISCR group has implemented, and currently manages, 6 production clusters  comprising more than 3200 processors, 30+ different support servers and a file server farm for ~1 PB of storage space.
 
Some details of the most recent cluster:
 
256 compute nodes with Infiniband connections to Ethernet - Low latency cluster

• Dual cpu Intel E5440 quad core a 2,8GHz.
• RAM 16 GB DDR2 FBD 667MHz
• 2 Hard Disk SATA 250GB 5400 rpm.
• 2 Gigabit Ethernet interconnection
• 1 Infiniband connections

128 compute nodes with Ethernet connections -  Medium latency cluster

• Dual cpu Intel E5440 quad core a 2,8GHz.
• RAM 16 GB DDR2 FBD 667MHz
• 2 Hard Disk SATA 250GB 5400 rpm.
• 2 Gigabit Ethernet connections

16  service nodes with  FibreChannel / Infiniband / Ethernet connections -  Service cluster

• Dual cpu Intel E5440 quad core a 2,8GHz.
• RAM 32 GB DDR2 FBD 667MHz
• 4 Hard Disk SAS da 146GB e 10000 rpm.
• Controller RAID 256MB cache
• 1 Fibre Channel dual port 4Gbps
• 1 Infiniband 4xDDR Dual Connect.
• 2 Gigabit Ethernet connections

 
For further informations, contact Gianmauro Cuccuru