The Erasmus Computing Grid - Building a Super-Computer for FREE
2007
textabstractToday advances in scientific research as well as clinical diagnostics and treatment are inevitably connected with
information solutions concerning computation power and information storage. The needs for information
technology are enormous and are in many cases the limiting factor for new scientific results or clinical
diagnostics and treatment. At the Hogeschool Rotterdam and the Erasmus MC there is a massive need for
computation power on a scale of 10,000 to 15,000 computers equivalent to ~20 to ~30 Tflops (1012 floating point
operations per second) for a variety of work areas ranging from e.g. MRI and CT scan and microscopic image
anlysis to DNA sequence analysis, protein and other structural simulations and analysis. Both institutions have
already 13,000 computers, i.e. ~18 Tflops of computer power, available!
To make the needed computer power accessible, we started to build the Erasmus Computing Grid (ECG),
which is connecting local computers in each institution via central management systems. The system guaranties
security and any privacy rules through the used software as well as through our set-up and a NAN and ISO
certification process being under way. Similar systems run already world-wide on entire institutions including
secured environments like government institutions or banks. Currently, the ECG has a computational power of
~5 Tflops and is one of or already the largest desktop grid in the world. At the Hogeschool Rotterdam
meanwhile all computers were included in the ECG. Currently, 10 departments with ~15 projects at the Erasmus
MC depend on using the ECG and are preparing or prepared their analysis programs or are already in production
state. The Erasmus Computing Grid office and an advisory and control board were set-up.
To sustain the ECG now further infrastructure measures have to be taken. Central hardware and specialist
personal needs to be put in place for capacity, security and usability reasons for the application at Erasmus MC.
This is also necessary in respect to NAN and ISO certification towards diagnostic and commercial ECG use, for
which there is great need and potential. Beyond the link to the Dutch BigGrid Initiative and the German
MediGRID should be prepared for and realized due to the great interest for cooperation. There is also big
political interest from the government to relieve the pressure on computational needs in The Netherlands and to
strengthen the Dutch position in the field of high performance computing. In both fields the ECG should be
brought into a leading position by establishing the Erasmus MC a centre of excellence for high-performance
computing in the medical field in respect to Europe and world-wide.
Consequently, we successfully started to build a super-computer at the Hogeschool Rotterdam and Erasmus MC
with great opportunities for scientific research, clinical diagnostics and research as well as student training. This
will put both institutions in the position to play a major world-wide role in high-performance computing. This
will open entire new possibilities for both institutions in terms of recognition and new funding possibilities and
is of major importance for The Netherlands and the EU.
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