IBM UNIX-based systems are expected to double the current capacity of one of the nation's most innovative grid initiatives, uniting resources from 27 institutions in 15 states, to increase dramatically its research capabilities — from modeling coastal storm surges to advanced genome sequencing. The SURAgrid initiative is actively advancing collaborative work in grid computing to support research opportunities across the southeastern U.S.

The announcement by IBM and the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) confirms in principle a three-year relationship under which IBM will offer SURAgrid member institutions hardware and software, collaborate on SURAgrid projects, and work closely with university researchers to exploit the large-scale computing capability of the SURAgrid.

Initial deployments of IBM high performance computing systems acquired by Louisiana State University and Georgia State University are currently in process with an additional system planned for Texas A&M University in early Fall.

The addition of these high performance IBM machines will increase SURAgrid's compute capacity to about 10 trillion calculations per second — an amount that would take one person with a calculator about eight million years to perform.

SURAgrid harnesses the power of heterogeneous computing systems located at multiple colleges and universities into a single, virtualized entity that enables researchers from participating institutions to run advanced scientific inquiries. The computing grid relies on grid middleware from Globus.org that allows disparate systems to work together, and is supported by high-speed network connections throughout the region, including the emerging National LambdaRail.

While the grid is used for multi-disciplinary research, one special focus will include study of coastal storm surges via the SURA Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction program (SCOOP), funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

According to the National Hurricane Center: "Storm surge is simply water that is pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds swirling around the storm. This advancing surge combines with the normal tides to create the hurricane storm tide, which can increase the mean water level 15 feet or more. In addition, wind driven waves are superimposed on the storm tide. This rise in water level can cause severe flooding in coastal areas, particularly when the storm tide coincides with the normal high tides. Because much of the United States' densely populated Atlantic and Gulf Coast coastlines lie less than 10 feet above mean sea level, the danger from storm tides is tremendous."

"The addition of IBM UNIX systems not only provides a tremendous boost in compute capability, it enhances the ability of our scientists to collaborate across multiple universities and geographies," said Jerry P. Draayer, president and CEO of SURA. "Collaboration is at the heart of SURAgrid's mission, just as it is at the center of scientific discovery and human progress."

SURAgrid will implement IBM System p575 servers, each powered by 16 Power5+ microprocessors running at 1.9 GHz and configured with 32 GB of memory.

SURAgrid is a consortium of organizations collaborating and combining resources to help bring grid technology to the level of seamless, shared infrastructure. Institutions participating in the SURAgrid include:
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Alabama in Huntsville
University of Arkansas
Bowie State University
University of Florida
George Mason University
Georgia State University
Great Plains Network
Kennesaw State University
University of Kentucky
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Louisiana State University
Louisiana Tech University
University of Maryland
University of Michigan
Mississippi Center for SuperComputing Research
University of North Carolina, Charlotte
North Carolina State University
Old Dominion University
University of South Carolina
University of Southern California
Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA)
Texas A&M University
Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC)
Texas Tech
Tulane University
Vanderbilt University
University of Virginia

SURAgrid evolved from the NSF NMI Testbed Grid, which was initiated as a sub-project of the NSF Middleware Initiative (NMI) Integration Testbed Program in September 2003. SURA developed and managed the NMI Integration Testbed Program for the first three years of the NMI, in partnership with Internet2 and EDUCAUSE (ANI-0123937).

"Using grids to harness the supercomputing power of some of America's finest academic institutions enhances collaboration, reduces computing time and helps scientists tackle complex challenges like hurricane prediction and human genome sequencing," said Ken King, vice president, IBM Grid Computing. "IBM is proud to have provided grid computing solutions to academic and medical research projects in the past and we're excited to be part of SURAgrid."