18-07-16  Aris super-computer with capacity for large-scale scientific applications

With additional computational power and double the high performance storage space, along with long-term archiving capacity, the national super-computer ARIS (Advanced Research Information System) can better cover the needs of highly demanding scientific applications , especially in areas such as computational fluid dynamics , cancer research, seismology, artificial intelligence and applications for Big Data Analytics. The infrastructure is developed and operated by the Greek Research and Technology Network (EDET), which recently was awarded a gold medal in the category of Strategy, Innovation and Extroversion by Business IT Excellence (BITE). Access to the ARIS system is open to Greek research foundations and universities through periodic invitations for works of production, preparation and escalation.

To the original system of 426 IBM Next Scale computers were added three new computational islets which support different architectures of parallel processing, thus expanding the capacity of ARIS to support applications that demand great memory capacity, or applications based on co-processing technologies such as GP-GPU (General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit) and  Intel MIC (Many Integrated Core Architecture) to speed up their execution:

• An islet of large memory nodes (fat nodes) comprised of 44 Dell PowerEdge R820 servers. Each server offers four Dell Power Edge R820 processors and 512 GB of central memory.
• An islet of GPU nodes comprised of 44 Dell Power Edge R730 servers. Each server is equipped with two Intel Xeon E5-2660v3 processors, 64 GB memory and two GPU cards NVidia K40.
• An islet of nodes comprised of 18 Dell Power Edge R730 servers, each of which contains two Intel Xeon E5-2660v3 processors, 64 GB of memory, and two Intel Xeon Phi 7120P co-processors.
• In addition, an IBM ESS GL4 central storage system was installed, based on the GPFS archival system, which provides about 1 PB of storage space. The infrastructure was completed with a ΙΒΜ TS3500 tape library with maximum storage space of about 6 PB.

EDET commenced operation of ARIS in July 2015, providing a strong research tool to the country’s scientists. In the first months of its operation, it was included in a list of the world’s 500 most powerful computers (top500.org), placing Greece on the global map of high performance systems. Today, it constitutes part of the European super computer ecosystem, PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe).

The development of the infrastructure was carried out in the framework of the following projects:

• PRACE-GR – Development of National Super-Computational Infrastructure and provision of related services to the Greek Research and Academic Community, which was co-funded by the operational programme “Attiki”, Priority Access “03 – Bolstering of the Competitiveness of Innovation and of Digital Convergence”, as well as the European Regional Development Fund (ETPA in Greek).
• Provision of Digital Services to Enterprises and Improvement of Efficiency of the Public Sector with Use of Technology of Information and Communications (TPE), the Operational Programme for Digital Convergence (EP), the Regional Operational Programme (PEP) for Macedonia-Thrace, Crete and the Aegean Islands, Thessaly-Central Greece-Epirus, “Attiki”, and “Provision of Digital Services through the Creation of an Energy Efficient Data Centre”.

Useful links:

• National Network of Research and Technology – Linking Research and Education”
• Super Computer services and infrastructure of EDET

• PRACE Research Infrastructure:http://www.prace-ri.eu

Contacts: Vangelis Floros, Administrator of Works Developing Computer Infrastructure EDET S.A. e-mail: efloros ΑΤ grnet.gr

Demetra Kotsokali, EDET S.A.  Public Relations Officer, e-mail: dkotsoATgrnet.gr

For the National Network of Research and Technology (EDET S.A.)

EDET S.A develops and manages the National Network of Research and Technology, based on the model of similar research and education networks in the European Union. It provides the Greek research and educational community contemporary electronic infrastructure and services, aiming at reducing the digital chasm and achieving its members’ co-equal participation in the global Information Society.

At the same time, it develops applications and digital services that save valuable resources for the Greek state, modernise public operational structures, and introduce new models of cooperation between public organisations, the research and educational community, citizens and businesses.

With over 9,000 kilometres of optic fiber and contemporary optic equipment, it connects over 100 institutions,  including all universities and higher technical schools in Greece, research centres, and the nationwide school network. It serves about 500,000 users daily

Parallel to the provision of advanced network infrastructure and services, EDET S.A. provides Cloud Computing services for all members of the research and educational community.

As of June, 2015, it operates the first national high yield computational system (HPC) to support large-scale scientific applications, which in turn is incorporated in the European super computers network.