Green Supercomputing
Pedal-powered supercomputers
As part of an NSF-funded project on scientific grid computing, the department, with vendor SiCortex, recently demonstrated a 648-node SiCortex SC648 supercomputer modeling the melting of glacial ice, all powered by only the energy generated by 10 cyclists. Video highlights of the event are fun to watch:
- Low-resolution version (320×240, 8 MB)
- High-resolution version (640×480, 28 MB)
In addition to the SC648, the department also operates a 72-node SC072 supercomputer.
A scientific grid portal.
These energy efficient computers (the SC648 and SC072 consume only 1000 and 300 watts, respectively) are part of a project to build a portal on scientific grid computing that enables the general public to access the very data, simulations, and experiments used by scientists conducting their research.
This work was funded in part by National Science Foundation grant number 0723093 (MRI: Acquisition of a High Performance Cluster for the University of Maine Scientific Grid Portal, $200,000). Phil Dickens serves as principal investigator with co-principal investigators Sudarshan Chawathe and Jim Fastook of Computer Science, and Bruce Segee and Yifeng Zhu from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department.