Computational Hardware Upgrade to Create an Efficient University of Wyoming Geophysical Department Computational Center

University Of Wyoming, Laramie WY

Investigators

Abstract

0112163 Dueker This grant provides partial support for the upgrade of the University of Wyoming, Dept. of Geophysics computation center. Specific equipment to be purchased includes a central UNIX file server, an automated backup system, a 1/2 TB RAID storage system, and computational equipment to build a 10 node Beowulf cluster based on 1.2 GHz CPU's with a combined 1 GB of RAM. The enhancements will support the heavy computational needs of a growing seismology group at Wyoming including recent hires Drs. Ken Dueker, Michael Cheadle, and Dag Nummedal in addition to Drs. Scott Smithson and Steve Holbrook. The seismologists in this department are undertaking new forays into high-fold data (both onshore and offshore, and including 3D pre-stack data) and real-time acquisition and event processing of PASSCAL/GSN/NSN broadband seismic data via the internet. In total, they are currently processing some 3 terrabytes of data. The Geophysics UNIX computational facility at the University of Wyoming currently serves 28 users: 18 graduate students, 5 post-doctoral researchers, 6 professors, and several undergraduates using a heterogeneous, dispersed mix of UNIX hardware and operating systems. This upgrade will centralize processing power and ease the burden on a current systems administrator by adopting common operating systems and uniform hardware. ***