Super fast computer a world leader
A supercomputer capable of one million-billion calculations every second is helping WA cement its place as a world leader in research.
One of the Southern Hemisphere's biggest supercomputer facilities, the Pawsey Centre, will be launched at the CSIRO's Kensington site tomorrow. The Interactive Virtual Environments Centre began building the $100 million centre in 2009.
iVEC chairman Mal Bryce said the supercomputer's ability to capture, store and interpret data would add to advances in several sciences.
"This introduces high-end science in WA to the era of big data," he said. "It will help productivity in geoscience, radioastronomy and nanotechnology."
Once finished mid-next year, the centre will have 20 tonnes of computer equipment and 400km of fibre optic cable within 1000sqm.
"It is one of the largest supercomputing facilities in the country and designed for expansion," Mr Bryce said.
It has 40 petabytes, or 40,000 terabytes, of storage capacity and can be expanded to 100 petabytes.
Named after Australian radioastronomy pioneer Dr Joseph Pawsey, a main function of the centre is to process data from the Square Kilometre Array. "This is the computing end of the SKA, which is the biggest science project in the world," Mr Bryce said.
The $2 billion SKA project will use telescopes across the globe, including in the Murchison, to study the universe's origins.
iVEC deputy director George Beckett said the supercomputer's groundwater cooling system set the machine apart from most others.
The system cycles 90 litres of water a second to cool the machine.
"Supercomputers traditionally use water towers for cooling, which loses a lot of water through the atmosphere," Mr Beckett said.
"We are extracting water from 140m at 22 degrees and it is returned to the aquifer at 35 degrees.
"We estimate a saving of 38.5 million litres a year, equivalent to the drinking water of South Perth."
A joint CSIRO initiative with Curtin, Murdoch, WA and Edith Cowan universities, the centre will link up and eventually supersede two existing WA supercomputers.
"Supercomputers were installed at Murdoch in 2011 and UWA in 2012, each costing $5 million," he said.
"The $40 million Cray supercomputer at the Pawsey Centre completes the network."
